


First is Forever

by stephensmat



Category: The Martian - All Media Types
Genre: Canon - Book & Movie Combination, F/M, Friendship/Love, Gen, Guardian Angel, Missing Scenes, Pre-Epilogue, Watney Home Again, ship if you want, space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-08-14 03:39:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 30,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16485239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stephensmat/pseuds/stephensmat
Summary: “I don’t know how to tell you this, Mindy; but your career has taken an unexpected turn into major relevance; and I’ve waited almost two years for you to notice.” Vincent said with a smile.Mindy Park wasn't part of the mission, exactly. But she noticed something unusual on her screen one night, and became a minor footnote in the history books.For the Ares III Crew, she became much more; because at NASA, First Is Forever.Mark/Mindy ship, only if you want it to be; but a friendship fic to be sure.





	1. Guardian Angel

"There you are." Mindy said to herself quietly as she sat down at her desk again. Mark's Rover hadn't really moved, but it was habit at this point. She rarely left her desk during Mars' day cycle. She'd even gotten her bathroom breaks down to four minutes. Given the amount of caffeine she consumed in a day, that was a sprint record.

Mindy hadn't left the building for more than five hours a week. Watney was on his own schedule, and she was his primary watcher. A role that put her in the room for all the high level meetings; but had, in her mind, no real responsibilities.

"I feel a bit ghoulish." She confessed to Annie Montrose once, as Watney entered the third week of his drive across Mars. "There's nothing for me to do but wait for him to wipe out and roll the thing again."

"Nothing to do?" Annie rolled her eyes. "Mandy, everything those satellites see, you get it first, then you tell Vincent, then he tells me what I'm looking at, and then you tell me again in words that the general public can understand; and then I have to figure out how boil that down enough for a  **#* &^$**ing Tweet; and then I have to talk Teddy through whatever moronic spin the Internet puts on things; so that he, Mitch, and I, can hold back the press with a whip and a chair."

"All that, and you still can't get your head around the fact that her name is 'Mindy', not 'Mandy'." A voice quipped from behind them. Mitch Henderson was coming up with a tray of large espresso; one for each of them.

Mindy sculled her oversized supply of caffeine in three large gulps, already back at her screens. Annie had a pointed conference with Mitch and swept out.

"That woman always walks like she's bringing a hurricane with her." Mindy said quietly to Mitch.

"That she does." Mitch agreed. "But I heard what you said. If you wanna go home for a while…"

"No, I'm good here. I made myself a promise that I'd stay on duty until he was off Mars."

"That's… quite a promise."

"I know." Mindy shook her head. "There's nothing for me to do except watch, but… Two planets, Three Space Agencies, Seven Radio Telescopes across five nations; over three thousand PHD's, 50 Million Miles, and just over 700 potatoes…" Mindy smiled. "Let's just say I love my job, even on the slow nights."

Mitch toasted that with a wry smile. "There's nothing else like it."

Mindy sipped back the last of her coffee. "I was recognized last week."

Mitch laughed. "Really?"

"First time I've been out during the day in months, and I got noticed." Mindy nodded, still a little bit excited by it. "Some fourteen year old girl in a Firefly t-shirt asked for a selfie with me in Walmart. Telling me she was switching to Astronomy; and what classes did I take to get this job?"

"Congratulations." Mitch chuckled.

"It's insane. I haven't done any of the press, I'm not on any of the panel discussions…" Mindy shook her head. "How did this girl even know who I was?"

"We're a Public Access Company. You're on record as being part of the communications between Ares III and Houston. Your name is out there, if anyone cares to read through a thousand hours of transcripts."

"So, whoever my mini-me is, she's likely aiming to have your job… after she gets mine."

"Poor kid." Mitch drawled.

Mindy twitched. She knew there was something going on, or at least there had been. Looking at him now, Mitch seemed… different. His face was lighter, with a glint in his eye, but there was something more stooped to his posture, like he was carrying twice the weight. An odd combination of determination and resignation. "Everything okay?"

Mitch's face changed, and he straightened. "Yup." He turned to go, then looked back at her for a moment, and returned. "I never said I was sorry."

Mindy blinked. "The hours are lousy, but I knew that when I-"

Mitch shook his head. "No, not this. That first meeting, with Teddy. I gave Vincent some grief for bringing you in."

"I was one of the lowest level employees in SatCon, sir." Mindy nodded. "To be honest, I agreed with you. All I did was notice something first."

"Yeah, but I never apologized for saying that like it was  _less_  than it was." Mitch said. "This is NASA. A company built around the idea that we could be the first people to do many things. First Is Forever. You think that only applies to astronauts?"

Mindy blinked. "I never thought of it like that."

Mitch nodded. "I never said I was sorry, and… I don't know, I wanted to sort that out while I could."

 _While he could._  Mindy repeated mentally, feeling that sense of secrecy again.  _What am I missing?_  And then it hit her. "Mitch…" She asked finally, one of the few times she had used his first name. "That night, when you sent me home? It was the only time in eight months that you insisted I go home and sleep."

"As I recall, you didn't." Mitch pointed out. "You've been on Mars time as long as Watney has. He at least can stop when he's tired."

"That was the night the Ares Crew began the 'Rich Purnell Maneuver'." Mindy said. What she didn't say, was that she hadn't heard of it until after the fact, and given how meticulously they planned every second of the Mission, she should have heard something, if only when relaying it to Mark Watney. Which meant others hadn't known until after the fact either. If Mitch was one of them...

"Is there a question in there?" Mitch challenged her, with a look that spoke of absolute doom.

Mindy suddenly lost her nerve. "Nah." She looked back to the screen. "Oop. He's moving again."

* * *

Vincent Kapoor roused himself sometime during the night and made a coffee run.

"Anything new?"

"Nothing worth waking you up again." Mindy didn't even look away from the screen. "You know you have a surprisingly comfortable couch in your office; as well as a bed in your house."

"Look who's talking." Vincent said as he flopped into the chair behind her. "By the way, I put that paper up. I'm going to need you to co-sign it; given that you did all the work."

Watney's Rover was harder to follow at night; and Mindy had spent several weeks figuring out satellite algorithms to help track movement in other ways. Vincent had seen her work and decided to publish the results.

"I'm glad it helped, but I don't really know what practical use it has." Mindy nodded. "Once we get Mark off Mars, what do we need Telescopes with Night Vision for? Military already has that."

"Practical use? Mindy, Optical Telescopes can only see things in our Solar System when the sun lights them up. It's hard enough tracking objects at a range of a billion miles. Being able to do it in low light? That's a solution to more than just Watney's Solar Charging schedule."

Mindy blinked. "Oh. Right."

Vincent felt a wave of affection for Mindy. She'd been working as hard as anyone else, and failed to notice how much she'd accomplished in comparison. Vincent's father was from India. He knew how easy it was to get lost in a crowd; especially in a company town like NASA. As a Director, Vincent felt his entire job description was to 'find the genius' and in Mission Control, that was a long list.

Teddy had asked Vincent to keep a close eye on the night shift. Mitch kept the day shift running like a well oiled machine, but the nights had become far more valuable as Mark made his journey. Watney slept during the day while his solar panels charged the Rover. Vincent was under orders to make sure those staying on 'Watney Time' were able to handle it.

NASA Techies were diehard geeks, and as such, were well accustomed to pulling all-nighters. But thus far, Mindy was the only one who hadn't swapped a shift even once.

Mindy Park was 'Satellite Communications' and had originally been pressed into service for the Mars Orbital Satellites during Ares III because of her skill at directing the Satellites effectively. All the moving cameras needed direction to cover the most area with the most detail with the least waste. Before Sol 54, this meant she worked at a desk in the Mission Control Room at the Johnson Space Centre; without actually being part of the Mission staff. Since the Mission changed to rescuing Watney, Mindy had volunteered to do a job that NASA would normally assign to three people taking turns. Teddy was fine with that, since she was right on the money with everything she'd done so far; and if he could assign two staffers to other work, it'd be worth the few pennies; given how NASA had already blown through ten years worth of budget to get Mark Watney this far.

"How does this end, Vincent?" Mindy asked, as though reading his mind. "We manage to pull this off, it's going to change the whole nature of space travel. We fail…"

"We fail, we may lose the program entirely." Vincent agreed. "Y'know Mitch and Teddy were talking about that, when  _Hermes_ started accelerating for a trip back to Mars. Teddy was against the idea. Said that the future of Space Exploration was bigger than just one man."

"Well, he's not wrong." Mindy nodded, eyes still on the screen. "But speaking for myself, if it was me, I'd want to be saved."

"You ever meet Karen Rhodes?"

"From Ares I?" Mindy blinked. "No. Not personally."

"She said that about a dozen people asked her, from her family, to the Commander, to the President. They all had the same question: What if you don't come back?" Vincent shrugged. "They all volunteered. More than that, they had to jump through thirty hoops to get the gig."

"I heard Commander Rhodes on talk radio last week." Mindy sipped her coffee. "That yutz who says we shouldn't be spending so much money. After all, 'Watney knew the risks'."

"Nobody takes guys like that seriously. The agitators are like dogs chasing cars. If we decided not to go back for Watney, they'd rage at us for that, too."

"I know. But I listened to Rhodes eviscerate the guy, on the air, and… I'm glad to know that the world can still find it in them to move mountains, for one man." She gestured. "It's good for us, that we can keep riding the edge, and still care that much. NASA's the only place that takes such insane risks to be the first at something, and simultaneously work around the clock to bring everyone back alive."

* * *

The Rover had been close enough to talk to the Ares IV MAV for a while; which meant Mark had two-way communication back for the first time since Pathfinder burned out. Which meant he had been sent the entire 'plan' for making the MAV lighter.

Mark had not taken it well, and Teddy promised to give Mindy a raise for installing a profanity censor on NASA's text comms.

After everyone else had left for the night, Mark had gotten back in touch.

 **MWatney:**  Still there?

It wasn't exactly a chatroom, given the time delay. Mindy answered quickly, nonetheless.

 **MPark:** Always.

 **MWatney:**  I'm going over the notes from NASA, making sure I didn't miss anything. But in the meantime, I need one more favor. I wrote a few letters. If I don't make it, deliver them for me? I know I wrote to my crew back when it looked like I was going to starve, but that was months ago; and with the long trip; I have a few other things to say. Mindy, they're encoded. Go to my locker, check my personal effects. You'll find a photo of me and my folks. There's a date written on the back. That number is the cypher. It's not anything bad or Top Secret; I just wanted to keep the things I say in these letters personal and confidential; and NASA may respect that, but anyone with a Dish can pick up what we say to each other. So, I need someone to decode them on your end and keep them in a drawer. Just in case.

 **MPark:**  Sure, Mark. But you know the plan is going to work. Haven't you seen this movie?

 **MWatney:**  LOL.

And that should have been it. A short response to acknowledge that he'd received her answer; and they leave it for another night.

And yet, Mindy responded.

 **MPark:** You did not just type that. Who 'Lol's' anymore?

She didn't expect an answer. Half an hour later, she got one.

 **MWatney:**  I'll have you know that 'LOL' is a very popular buzzword on Mars. You see, the Pirate King of Mars just used it in an official interplanetary communication; and then declared it "Mars-Wide 'LOL' Day". You are, of course, deeply honored to be part of such an auspicious date in Martian History. :-D

 **MPark:** Truly Honored. And may I say, Pirate-King Blondebeard; how awed I am at your use of 'auspicious' and emoji in the same sentence. I'll get these letters decoded. You realize I'll have to read them?

 **MWatney:**  I trust you, Guardian Angel.

* * *

A few hours later, Mindy decided she could leave her station long enough for Ramen.

The Night Shift was known as 'The Gremlins' to most of the day crew. Mindy had to admit, the nickname fit.

When she'd made her way to the staff break room, there were three of them, gathered around a small TV. Late Night television had as much to say about Watney as the morning shows did. But the late night shows weren't held back by the daytime production code. As a result, there was plenty of gossip and nasty slurs mixed in.

'The Wild Side' was just barely this side of Jerry Springer. It stayed in the 2AM timeslot, and got most of its viewers online thanks to clickbait and dirty pictures. It was cable-syndicated revenge porn.

And with all the interest in Watney, they had made special effort to find anyone from his life willing to gossip.

NASA hadn't called them on it, mostly because they didn't care. But now that they were two days from the end of this road, and the bastards were still taking aim at Mark Watney, Mindy cared very much. She and Annie had watched some of it, back when the 'BringHimHome' movement had taken over the world. It was, without exception, a pack of lies, made up scandal, and pure sensationalism, with the tiniest veneer of fact.

Which is why Mindy didn't much like the fact that the Night Shift was always watching when she went to the break room.

" _So, Rosa… Is it fair to say you were Watney's final Conquest before he left for Mars?"_

Mark's Ex-Girlfriends had avoided the cameras. There wasn't a lot for them to add, and most people could tell the difference between learning about someone and listening to gossip. Rosa was the exception. She was selling every tid-bit she could. She'd practically given them his measurements.

" _Well, it was how we celebrated his selection for the mission. The morning after, he had to go into quarantine for the launch."_  Rosa smirked at the camera. " _We celebrated a_ _lot_ _. Even by our standards. Astronauts are like that, given that they know they'll never see you again; and it'll be three or four years until their next chance."_

" _So you don't believe all those rumors about the 'Zero G' Club?"_

" _Well, I'm amazed they all wasted the opportunity; but Astronauts are pretty tightly wound that way. I should know. I've dated at least one from every Ares Mission. I'm practically a NASA tradition at this point."_

" _Did Watney know that?"_

" _I believe Lewis told him, after the fact."_

" _So, given how long Mark's been alone on Mars; should we expect to see you two together again?"_

" _Haha. That I can't say yet, but I promise to tell you all the best bits if we celebrate some more when he gets ba-"_

Mindy strode to the television and changed the channel without a word. There was a chorus of outrage and she turned to stare down the whole room. "I think we can find something more productive to do with our time, don't you?"

"Like what? The die is cast, Mindy. He launches in two days. Whatever's going to happen, it's kind of late for us to add anything."

Mindy gave him a steely look. "Chang, in two days, succeed or fail, this goes down. If it works, it'll be the finest hour in the history of NASA's failures since Apollo 13 made splashdown. If it fails, it'll be the  **end**  of the Mars missions for  _another_  generation. Either way, we'll all be writing our book." She gestured at the TV. "Just like that…" She swallowed the first thing that came to mind. "...That…" She swallowed the second thing too. "That woman. When I write mine, I plan to spend some time talking about the dedication of NASA's Night Crew, and Backup Staff. I can either talk about how we were trying, right to the last, to be ready for anything… or I can talk about the geeks who never see daylight, drooling over made-up details of Mark Watney's sex life on cable gossip shows the night before he died. Your call."

It worked. The Gremlins all left the break-room, not looking her in the eye. She heard someone murmur the words 'Guardian Angel' and pretended not to notice.

The 'Guardian Angel' nickname had come from Watney, when Mindy had mentioned via emails that the satellite passes would decrease for a while, and if he was going to do something particularly stupid, it would be more convenient for NASA if he did them while she was watching.

Mark had promised to go outside and wave to 'his guardian angel', and the Gremlins ate it up. The nickname had stuck.

* * *

She came back to her desk. Vincent was asleep on a Cot behind the back row of Mission Control terminals. She didn't wake him.

Mark had moved a bit off the edge of the screen while she was away, the orbits doing their thing. She found him again after a few moments. "There you are." She said to herself quietly, and went back to decoding his letters.

* * *

"Mindy? You okay?"

Mindy looked up sharply at Annie Montrose, and realized she'd been crying. "Sorry. He, um… Watney had some letters to send. Personal ones. So he had me decode them. I'm the only one who's read them, and…" She wiped a tear aside. "Never mind. I'm good."

Annie would have said something warm and supportive, but such was not her way. "I heard there was some excitement." Annie said as she sat down and got to work. Her shift began early enough to handle the morning shows, so Mindy's last task for the night was to update Annie when she arrived.

Mindy rolled her eyes. "Just a few of the Gremlins pre-ordering one of the tabloid books."

"And you settin' them straight, from what I hear." Annie smirked. "As a Martian Guardian Angel does."

"I never liked that nickname." Mindy commented wryly. "A guardian angel is there to protect their charges. All I can do is watch. It's not like I can actually do anything."

"I can name a few Gremlins that disagree, after last night."

Mindy looked at her. "Can you? Name them, I mean?"

Annie winced. "Um… The one with glasses? The guy who snacks too much? The one wearing the Star Trek T-Shirt?"

"Oh, yes. That narrows it down." Mindy yawned. "I hate that show with a fiery passion, Annie. I've never liked the gossip shows, and that one is the worst of the lot; but I've never hated someone I've never met before."

"You talking about the Moderator, or Rosa?"

Mindy winced. "Is it true, what she said about Mark?"

"No idea, but it wouldn't surprise me. They got the missions funded by making the Astronauts into a showcase. Been that way since the Mercury Seven. Astronauts are celebrities, and that means they have their share of groupies; but groupies become something a lot worse when they start making book deals. It's disgusting." Annie agreed. "I could feel my skin crawling just listening to the questions, let alone the answers."

"I'm sorry you had to keep on top of that sort of thing. You must hate that the subscription's going to show up on NASA's budget this year." Mindy sneered.

"I was already subscribed."

Mindy stared at her.

"I have two ex-husbands. Trust me, I am intimately acquainted with scumbags and internet trolls." Annie said plainly. "Last year, they did that piece on Hollywood Sex Tapes that get leaked deliberately for publicity? It was all I could do to keep watching for the full three hours."

"Sometimes I forget how much you work with the Press." Mindy yawned, checked Mark one last time, and stood up, stretching. "See you tonight."

"You need me to call a car for you?" Annie asked, concerned.

"Nah, I sleep on Vincent's couch more often than not." Mindy shook her head. "I'm acclimated to Mars Time now. Besides, at this time of day, I'm probably a safer driver than anyone who's been sitting in the Motor Pool all night."

"Why are you sleeping in the Centre?" Annie caught her arm.

"Half an hour to get home, half an hour back, four hours to sleep; one hour for everything else. Trust me, I'm better here."

"Mindy, you can take a shift off to sleep. We all have." Annie looked hard at her. "What? What is it?"

Mindy Park sighed and confessed. "I don't actually have a home to go back to right now." She said quietly. "I was spending so much time here, my mom finally noticed I hadn't been home for more than a day in three months; and my Landlord noticed that someone else had moved in…"

"Your rent fell through?"

"My landlord's been itching to get me out of that apartment for half a year. He was locked in by my agreement, but you know how housing prices are, and he could double the rent for the next sucker if he could just find a way to break my lease. Not actually living there was perfect for him. I could fight it, but not without spending a few weeks in small claims court."

Annie let out a little growl of disgust.

Mindy shrugged. "I knew it was a possibility. My mom's packing my things now."

"Which raises the question." Annie put in. "It's none of my business, of course, but it would have been a far simpler matter to just go home at the end of your shift. These guys can work till four in the morning better than most, but they've all swapped shifts here and there to catch up on sleep. Vincent tells me you're the only one taking on extra shifts keeping an eye on him. Can I ask why?"

Mindy dodged the question. "Doesn't really matter anymore. The Rendezvous is in two days. One way or another, I'm not on Mars Time for too much longer."


	2. Lucky Charm

It had worked. The Entire Crew, on their way home.

Mindy had joined the party, of course. For a bunch of astronomy nerds who never saw daylight, they could really bring down the house.

The celebration lasted until dawn, but Mindy bowed out early. Without an apartment, she went to a hotel, deciding to splurge for the first night she was able to walk away and get some sleep before 3AM. It had only partially worked. Houston was going wild more than anywhere else overnight.

She came into Mission Control the next morning, and found the place half demolished. Half the staff was sleeping in the corridors, the other half crowding into the bathrooms, puking for distance and accuracy.

Annie Montrose was curled around an empty bottle in the fetal position under Mindy's desk, snoring like a chainsaw. Mindy elected not to try waking her.

 _Hermes_  was on all the screens, of course. A skeleton staff for the crew's sleep cycle were bravely trying to stand their posts. Mindy had spent months being hyper-aware of what was on every single screen at all times, and couldn't help the check of them all as she came in. The telemetry was constant. "There you are." She said softly to herself.

"There you are!" Mitch called in perfect unison as he saw her. The symmetry made her jump.

Mindy held up her Security Pass. "I'm not here! I just left my tablet behind last night. I'll get out of your hair as soon as I find it."

"Wait. What?" Mitch was confused.

Annie suddenly woke up with a gasp, and looked up at Mindy with a groan. "Mindy…" She begged blearily. "Kill me."

Mitch noticed Annie. "Ah, good; Annie. I lost track of you after that game when we tried to figure out who would play us in the movie."

Annie thought for several seconds as she pulled over a wastebin. "I don't remember that."

"No surprise. It was less of a discussion, more of a drinking contest." Mitch toasted her with his coffee cup. "You won, by the way."

"Well… duh." Annie said proudly, before she threw up.

"What movie?" Mindy asked, more to say something over the noise.

"Well they'll be making one. You can count on that." Mitch snorted.

In one hand, Mitch had the biggest packet of breath mints that Mindy had ever seen, and an equally large bottle of aspirin in the other. Both were half empty. Apparently he'd been making the rounds. "Get it outta your system now, Annie. You're back on the Clock in three hours." He looked over at Mindy, who was retrieving her tablet. "Mindy, so are you."

"What do you mean?" Mindy asked, honestly not getting it.

"I hate you." Annie called to Mitch from beneath the table, still retching. "I hate everything."

Mindy looked at Mitch. "Why am I back on shift? It'll take days to get all the MRO Satellites back on their regular orbital paths. I was really looking forward to sleeping for the next week."

Annie looked up. "Is she fired?"

"She is not."

"Then I'm confused." Annie said, before she dry-heaved a bit. "Which is not surprising. Six against one's not fair."

"Did you think your job was finished?" Mitch said to Annie.

"Yes." Mindy said honestly. "He's off Mars. What else is there?"

"The mission doesn't end until they're back safe on  _Terra Firma_." Mitch said. "And for Mark, that's when the show actually  _begins_." He called under the desk. "Annie, I thought you told her all this."

"I was sending her an email." Annie moaned. "And please stop shouting."

Mindy checked her tablet. "Annie, you know that you don't need to write a message to me on  _my_  tablet, right? How drunk were you last night?"

"Again, with the shouting." Annie called from beneath the desk.

Mitch sighed and said it for her. "The Mission has been extended by a year. In between, a lot of things happened that don't fit the Flight Plan at all. We're under siege, and now that we got our happy ending, nobody has to show respect to the man who was almost certainly going to starve to death on Mars. The free-for-all starts the second everyone outside the building sobers up." He looked around. "You, me, and Teddy might just be the only survivors of last night's party."

"He's right." Annie said painfully. "Notify my Next of Kin and put me out of my misery, please."

"I don't know if you noticed, Mindy; but you're not Sat-Com anymore. Your regular duties went out the window when Teddy ordered the satellites put under your control to track Mark this whole time. You're part of the Ares III Mission now; and you have been for a long time. That mission doesn't stop until we get our people home." He looked at her carefully. "You didn't know this? You got a fairly decent title bump and wage increase."

"There's a lot of that going around. Tell you the truth, boss; I haven't been home… Well, at all. Enough that my lease fell through. Most of my meals have been either the cafeteria or the vending machines. Half the time I was so baked from being on Mars Time, I slept here."

"You and half the Gremlins. But you could have gone home."

Mindy shrugged.

"That's not an answer."

"My mom is very serious about not driving while half-asleep. My dad totalled our last car that way. She'd rather I sack out on a couch than risk it." She yawned. "In fact, my mom's been to my apartment more times this week than I have in six months. She's been packing for me."

Mitch slapped his forehead. "Apartments! Mark's place was sold when he was declared Dead. I'll have to talk to his family about that." His phone beeped at that moment. "And I will do that… after I call back the Vice President."

"Wait!" Mindy put a hand up. "If I'm Mission Control now, what am I meant to be doing?"

"A lot of it isn't that far off from what you've been doing. We're getting telemetry from _Hermes_ , including a dozen camera feeds showing the ship, interior and exterior. That part of your job hasn't changed. We get data from a dozen different optical and radio telescopes, watching for meteor or solar threats every hour. That part of your job hasn't changed. There are a few million messages being sent to our astronauts… When Mark got Pathfinder working, you were part of the team running his mail through the censors. That part has probably gotten bigger."

Mindy was already feeling tired again. "Well… At least the spacecraft is on Houston Time."

Mitch headed off, and Mindy sat back at her desk, pulling up her messages. She had planned to be done for a while, but it happened so easily, falling back into the pattern.

Just then, Mindy's phone rang. It was her mother. "Min, dear. I gathered a few apartment listings in your price range. Shall I come pick you up, or do you have a better offer?"

"Where would I get a better offer?"

"I don't know, but I figure there'd be a party at NASA last night. Why do you think I waited so late to call?"

Mindy flushed. "What exactly did you think you'd be interrupting?"

"I'm sure you wouldn't want me to guess." Her mother said primly. "But if you couldn't break your dry spell last night, you may as well go marry a store mannequin-"

"MOM!" Mindy whined. "I'll come pick you up in an hour."

She hung up and found Mitch had returned, recent enough to overhear that. "Apartment hunting." She excused. "Makes my mother… more like herself."

Mitch chuckled. "You know, you still haven't answered my question. We figured out Watney's schedule with the Rover within three days. You had eight hours a day where he wasn't moving. A lot of us go home for less."

Mindy looked over her shoulder to make sure they were alone. "You superstitious?"

Mitch shook his head. "No."

"Neither am I… Except for this Mission." Mindy found herself telling him everything she'd kept secret from Annie the night before. "I was mapping the Acidalia Planitia region with the MRO. You know NASA. They use every spare second of time we're funded for. A crew in the area meant we could search for points of interest more closely."

Mitch nodded, not getting it… until realization hit. "You were the one that spotted the storm on Sol 8."

Mindy nodded meekly. "I tagged the storm, reported it to SatCom, and then I went home for the night. I woke up and saw the report that Watney was dead."

"Mindy, I don't know how you can blame yourself for that."

"I don't." Mindy said honestly. "But I was also coming off a shift on Sol 119. Watney had just finished sending his emails back and forth in the Rover. He was done for the night, so I logged out and went down to my car… By the time I pulled up to the front gate, my phone was going nuts with five alarm alerts, telling me the HAB exploded."

"Heh. I was feeling guilty about chewing you out for being 'just lucky', and now I find out you've appointed yourself as Mark's personal Good Luck Charm?" Mitch winced. "Guardian Angel. We meant it to be nice."

"I know it's not my fault." Mindy said quickly. "I also know that I was just lucky, being the first one to spot him. But… I don't know, I felt like the second I took my eyes off Mark Watney, he was going to crash and burn again. I didn't taken my eyes off him once, the entire time he was moving during his Road Trip to Scarparelli; and he made it."

"And only rolled the Rover once." Mitch sighed sympathetically. "Well. As superstitions go, I've heard worse."

"Intellectually, I know better." Mindy shrugged again. "I… I stopped pretending that this is 'just work' a long time ago. And maybe I really was 'just lucky', but I'm still the one that called it in. I couldn't just hand it off and punch out at the end of the day."

Mitch nodded. "I know what you mean. But he's off Mars, so… I mean, if you really don't want the transfer to Mission Control full time, there's a long waiting list."

Before Mindy could answer, another, much gruffer voice piped up. "Fine. I'm clearly not getting more sleep." Annie groaned and sat up. "What time is it?" She checked her long-flat phone. "And where's my charger?" She looked for a clock. "Oh, Crap. The Watney's are arriving in ten minutes."

"His family?" Mindy blinked. "They're coming here?"

"They wanted to be the first video message uplinked to Mark." Mitch explained. "We didn't want them here at 'Ground Zero' during the rendezvous, just in case… Well…"

"In case it didn't work." Annie supplied, fighting to stand up. "I gotta go meet them."

Mindy put her tablet away. "I'll handle the Watney's." She said without hesitation. She would later think that it was out of character for her. "Annie's in no shape to handle VIP's."

"I'm a professional." Annie insisted… before grabbing Mindy for balance. "Now… Where are my shoes?"

* * *

"Mister and Missus Watney?" Mindy said politely as she could. "I'm Mindy Park. Welcome to Mission Control. Excuse the chaos. Most of the team decided a celebration was in order."

"You should see our street back in Chicago. Haven't heard screaming like that since the last time the Cubs won the World Series." Mark's father commented dryly. "Did you say Mindy Park?"

"Yessir." Mindy nodded, and suddenly found herself smothered under the older woman's arms. "Oh. Okay." Mindy stammered a bit before she thought to hug back.

"You're the one that found him!" Mark's mother enthused, arms still wrapped tightly. "He sent us an email about it. He specifically asked Mitch who it was." The older woman pulled back a bit. "I think Mark intends to thank everyone involved personally."

"May take him a while." Mindy commented, but a thrill of horror went through her; and she had no idea why. "Anyway, um… come with me, and let me place your call."

* * *

"Remember, there's still a time lag between here and Mars. But with _Hermes_ , we can do better than a chatroom."

"Have you seen him?" Mark's father asked. "I'm told you were on the line with him when he arrived at the Ares IV MAV."

Mindy bit her lip. "Um… Commander Lewis asked us to keep communications to text and audio for now. But you're on the 'Private and Confidential' list, being his kin."

"Lewis didn't want a picture of Mark being public record." His mother hissed. "Months of starvation rations… Gawd, what he must look like now…"

"He's got Doctor Beck with him every minute." Mindy promised. "He's going to be fine."

She looked at Mindy with a watery smile. "Miss Park, you don't have kids, do you?"

"No, ma'am."

"Then take my word for it, there's no such thing as your kids being safe, unless they're in your arms, right there with you. You never wanna take your eyes off them. I got the shakes when Mark went to pre-school for the first time; let alone MARS." She looked back at the blank screen. "But I did feel better having all of NASA working on getting him back. Including you."

 _Never take your eyes off…_  Mindy felt her heart thud again; about to say something awkward, when the screen flashed. "Ah. The packet has downloaded."

"How do we answer him?"

Mindy gestured. "Well, you can do it from here if you want; but there's a much better camera in the VIP room. Half an hour round trip for the messages to go back and forth. We can make you comfortable. Well, as comfortable as we can, given that the place is like a Frat House right now." She tapped at the keyboard. "Here we… ohgod."

Mark's smiling face was on screen in full HD video. He looked terrible. He was at least thirty pounds underweight, covered in abrasions; and his eyes were a thousand years older than they were in his publicity photos. He looked so… neglected; like a starved, feral pup. Beck was in the background of the shot, fussing with an IV.

His parents reared back from the screen, stricken. Mindy was almost in the same state. Nobody had seen his face in months, outside that 'Fonz' shot of him in the suit. Mark Watney's face was everywhere now, but always the promotional pics taken before launch, or from the video diaries before The Storm.

"Hi, mom and dad!" Mark said brightly, in a cheerful tone that didn't fit with his face. "Back on the air. I know I don't look so good, but trust me… I smell a lot worse. When they pulled me on board, Beck shoved me into a shower before he'd examine me. Not that I mind, given that I hadn't had a shower in six months."

Mindy faded back from the family reunion and left them to it.

Mitch was coming up quietly, not wanting to intrude. "Thank you for that." He said to Mindy. "Annie wasn't up for it. Listen, I've been going over the roster, and if you really want off 'Watney-Time', you can request it now. It's the natural time to shift to a different ground team. I'm sorry for assuming." He gestured at her tablet. "If you decide to go back to Mars Recon, just send the request through."

"But you don't think I should." Mindy commented. It wasn't even a question.

"That's not for me to say." Mitch shook his head. "But I'm a little surprised you asked."

Mindy bit her lip. "I feel like I've been on a rollercoaster for over a year. But there's… I don't know. This doesn't feel like real life."

"It's not." Mitch said instantly. "You know, the first attempts to settle California ended in disaster and the death of the entire colonial expedition. They ran into things they weren't ready for, and had no infrastructure to support them. Life is fragile on the edge of new territory. It's worse in space, because if you don't take it with you, you won't find it anywhere. Mission Control is living on the edge while sitting in a comfortable chair."

"Mm. Feels all the more surreal when I'm discussing spatial mechanics and eating microwaved hot pockets." Mindy commented.

Mitch smiled a bit. "My dad… He was into hiking. He took me on a mountain climb when I was fourteen. Nearly killed me. But the view was incredible. I've never forgotten what it was like once we got to the top. Dad told me if you wanted a view like that, you had to earn it. Space is not a natural state for humans. Gravity, radiation, vacuum... It takes billions in research and development, millions more in construction and thousands of people working around the clock in ground support. But it's like climbing Everest, or flying in a plane... or chasing a new horizon. You gotta earn the view."

By this time, The Watney's had finished watching the message and came over. "Mindy, can we record an answer?"

"You sure can. We've set you up in the VIP Lounge." Mindy said dutifully.

"When it's sent, come see me." Mitch put in. "You got my message about housing for Mark?"

"Actually, we've changed our minds on that." Mark's father said swiftly. "We thought having him back with us would be the best thing, but after getting a look at him…"

"You realize he's got several months of healing and proper rations between there and here, right?" Mindy put in. "He won't look like that for long."

"We know, but it just hit us for the first time…" Mrs Watney struggled to say it. "Having him home with us might actually be a bad idea. We've got reporters going through our garbage, we've changed our number a dozen times… We can't have him home until it dies down."

"And it won't die down until he gets home." Mitch agreed. "We can put him up in Campus Housing, reserved for full-time astronauts. It's like any other full time barracks. Fairly comfortable, if mass produced. We don't know where Mark will end up once he gets to Earth, but if it's anything involving training for himself or recruits…"

Mindy's phone rang, and she excused herself discreetly.

"I've been waiting for twenty minutes. The guards at the entrance are taking pictures of my license plate." Her mother reported. "Are you coming, or not?"

Mindy let out a breath hard. "God. I forgot. I have to stay here for a bit. The Watney's are here, and most of the staff is either on duty or in recovery from last night."

"What about your appointments? Want me to go on my own? I can find you something affordable."

Mindy turned her head away from the others a bit. "Mom, I've slept on the couch in Vincent's office for three months, I can last another day. Plus, they want me to work Mission Control now, if I want to."

Her mother was notably silent.

"It's not like when he was on Mars, mom. I'll have a nine-to-five workday again."

"No you won't." Her mother said simply. "The  _Hermes_ might keep Houston time, but it's not like they leave the spaceship when they're off-duty. How many guys at Mission Control have a regular workday?"

"Well… almost none, I grant you." Mindy stammered.

"And don't pretend your official work hours are the reason that you stayed at the office so long that your landlord kicked you out."

"Well, okay; that's fair…" Mindy floundered, and suddenly noticed Mark's mother was looking at her. "Hang on a sec, mom."

Mrs Watney didn't even have to ask what it was about. "Mitch, can we get Mindy into Campus Housing too?"

* * *

The deal with Mitch was done in five minutes. Mindy was already packed. As the Watney's recorded their message she turned to Mitch. "I'm not an Astronaut." She reminded him.

"I know, but in response to public opinion, the White House authorized us to give Mama Watney whatever she asked for; which is easy enough, given that she hasn't asked for a single thing after we marooned her kid on Mars, beyond getting him back." Mitch quipped.

"They'll say it's a waste of money."

"The cost of this rescue just passed Two Hundred and Forty Nine Million. We can spare low-cost modular housing for one member of Mission Control." He looked over sharply. "Oh. Assuming you're…"

Mindy looked back at Watney's parents, speaking quietly to each other. Without taking her eyes from them, she pulled out her phone and tapped out a quick text.  _'Mom. Cancel the apartment hunting. I've got a better offer, given my new job.'_

She turned the phone to Mitch and let him read it. "I'm in." She told him. "Until he lands. You're right. I can't walk away now."

"Guardian Angel." Mitch quipped.

"Oh, shut up."

* * *

The NASA Campus wasn't flashy, but it didn't need to be. It was a slightly more spartan version of a motel room. With a dedicated hardline to NASA's database, she could even keep up on her work without having to be at her terminal in Mission Control.

She was already packed from her old place, and resolved to live out of a suitcase for a while. She hadn't seen her old bed in weeks, so it was not a hardship.

But that night, Mindy received an email; routed from her work account to her private laptop.

It was from Mark.

 **MWatney** : Hey, Guardian Angel. I'm told my mom bullied you into getting a new house.

 **MPark** : First of all, it's not a 'house' exactly, so much as a dorm room with quieter neighbors. Secondly, she didn't bully me. Though now that I think of it, i can't remember any specific point where I agreed to it. And BTW, do you have any idea what you started with that nickname? The Gremlins used it, mostly to be snarky; and Mitch kept it because he meant it to be nice. It never really felt right. Guardian Angels do things other than watch. And email.

An hour passed, and his response came in.

 **MWatney** : Yeah, I can relate to mom's particular form of 'affection'. I'm half convinced that I became an astronaut because she asked them 'politely' to put me on a mission. And for the record, the nickname fits. You answered my prayer.

Mindy read the last sentence three times, and finally answered.

 **MPark** : I know you're baiting me, but it's going to drive me nuts. What was your prayer?

 **MWatney** : For someone to see me.

Mindy rolled her eyes when she saw that.

 **MPark** : I was maybe an hour ahead of the whole world. I know the deal: First Is Forever. But seriously, an hour. Three, at most. I woke up Vincent Kapoor, but the images went out a full 24 hours later. There was plenty of time for someone else to spot you.

Mindy closed her laptop and went to take a bath. She hadn't lazed in a hot bath for so long that she could barely remember what steam felt like. Feeling completely relaxed for the first time in a year, she actually jumped when she heard her laptop ping with an incoming message.

 **MWatney** : Ever heard of Mackie Robinson?

Mindy was about to type a response when her laptop pinged again.

 **MWatney** : You think I mean *Jackie* Robinson. Nope. JR had an older brother named Mackie. He was a sprinter in the 1936 Berlin Games. He smashed the world record. And you haven't heard of him, because when he smashed that world record? Jesse Owens *still* beat him to the finish line by four tenths of a second. So Mack takes his Silver Medal and gets a job as a janitor, while his younger brother takes up Baseball and makes Sports History, and the guy with Gold, standing next to him on the podium, becomes a legend.

Mindy snorted, when her laptop pinged again.

 **MWatney** : Maybe you 'just got there first', but four tenths of a second is enough to change history. Who knows how my story would have changed if someone else had seen me first, just an hour or two later? You called Kapoor's emergency number. Someone else finds me, sends a mass email, and word is out? I'm glad my family found out I was marooned from Teddy, and not CNN. I owe you one for that.

It was the end of his little speech, and despite herself, Mindy was getting a little emotional.

 **MPark** : I guess that's true. But you don't owe me for that.

 **MWatney** : $249 Million? There are a lot of things I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to repay.

In the time it took that email to reach her, Mark had more than half an hour to chew on that uncomfortable fact as the last word. Mindy looked for magic words she could quickly send his way and had nothing; until she finally settled on something.

 **MPark** : Worth it for the celebration party alone. ;-D

Long radio silence.

 **MWatney** : Tell me all about it?

Mindy let out a bark of laughter, for reasons she couldn't figure out… Before she started typing, telling him everything. She sent links to news stories about the Parties thrown around the world, pictures from Times Square, quotes from some of the stories, a few selections from social media… and her own impressions of the night.

They ended up talking for most of the night; half an hour at a time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!


	3. Stage Fright

**MWatney** : Pepperoni, definitely. Deep dish, three kinds of cheese. And you gotta have the garlic knots with it.

**MPark** : Okay, enough of that. You're still two months away. You're going to make your crew crazy.

**MWatney** : Are you kidding? We're all making lists, First thing to eat, first place we want to go. Mindy, have you ever been to Wrigley Field? Because the Crew got offered VIP seats if the Cubs make the play-offs.

**MPark** : I'll let them know. Maybe it'll make a difference this year; though I wouldn't bet on it.

**MWatney** : Traitor. I get enough of that from Martinez.

**MPark** : Remind Martinez to be nice to you, because I control the Profanity filter on NASA's comms, and apparently his kids have learned all kinds of interesting words from their uncles. I'm sure he wouldn't want everything saved for posterity.

**MWatney** : You know, back when I first made it back to the HAB, and made my first log entry? I figured it could be a hundred years before anyone found it. A MicroSD card turned out to be the most valuable thing I took with me when I launched. Now it's a published book.

**MPark** : Selling fast, too. Thank Annie for that. Once your logs got hacked, NASA had to move fast as it went viral.

**MWatney** : I'm told you're the one that cleaned it up for the 'classroom' edition. Don't know if I said thank you for that.

**MPark** : The book included transcripts and emails from others here on Earth. Annie Montrose could match your swear jar.

**MWatney** : From what I hear about the book sales, I could afford it. Lewis got a look at the final draft. She mentioned that you were a lot less visible in the book than you were in Mission Control.

**MWatney** : Hello?

**MWatney** : Guardian Angel? (Imagine me tapping on my screen) Is this thing on?

* * *

Mindy had finally taken numerous and repeated hints from her mother and gone out for a night. Her mother had finally gotten the hint about setting her up on blind dates with... well, anyone with a pulse; but Mindy had taken the hint and broken out her prowling shoes for the first time since Sol 61.

She was ordering her first drink before she realized Mark had invited her to a baseball game during their last chat.

The bar was fairly quiet. Mindy had picked the wrong night if she wanted attention. But there was no sign of a computer, and not a single picture of a spacecraft, or a red planet anywhere in view, which was the point of the night. Mindy ordered herself a 'Slip'n'Slide', and felt so embarrassed by the bartender's look that she drank it too fast, ordering a Long Island Iced Tea to follow it.

"Didn't think anyone but college kids drank Slip'n'Slide's."

Mindy looked up at the young woman who half-fell onto the stool beside her. Young, dark circles under her eyes, clearly as much of a night owl as Mindy. "Well, you can probably guess how long it's been since I've ordered a cocktail, then."

The young woman chuckled and ordered a drink of her own. "Like riding a bike, isn't it?"

"Theoretically."

"Here you go, Miss Barnes." The bartender put the woman's drink down in front of them. Scotch, neat.

"The Bartender knows you by name?" Mindy observed, a little buzzed. Enough to let her make the implication, but not enough that she didn't feel stupid the second it was out of her mouth.

"Heh." Barnes wasn't offended. "He carded me when I first came in here, which was hardly necessary, but I suspect was to flatter me into being... appreciative. I wasn't; at least not that much. But enough that I came back." As if to illustrate, Barnes took her drink; and treated it like a shot. One gulp, glass down. "You?"

Mindy let out a low whistle. "Nah, I'm no regular. I don't get much of a chance to go out anymore. And making cocktails for yourself at home is what my Aunt Minnie used to do. After her third divorce. We don't talk about her much."

Barnes chuckled. "I can only imagine what your hours must be like, Mindy."

Buzzed as she was, Mindy sat upright. "Have we met before?"

"No, but I make it a point to stay informed about people." Barnes said casually, holding out a hand. "Mara Barnes, Washington Post."

Mindy set her glass down with a thunk and collected her jacket. "Well, nice talking to you."

Barnes jumped up and kept pace with her. "Look, I'm a reporter, but don't let that fool you: I'm carbon based and everything." She said quickly as Mindy headed for the door. "I just have two questions to ask about the Mission."

"Then ask NASA."

"I am."

"No, you're not."

"Why did they launch on Sol 6?"

"No comment." Mindy walked faster, reaching the door.

"The Logs say you were the one that marked that storm."

"I monitor satellite feeds, I'm not a weatherman." Mindy reached the curb and started scanning for a cab.

"The atmosphere on Mars is so thin that the wind blows at a hundred miles an hour, but has the force of a gentle breeze. Lots of noise, lots of darkness, lots of dust, but that's not enough to tear a satellite dish clean  _off_  the HAB; let alone have it fly across and wipe out an Astronaut. Why scrub the mission?"

"You say it wasn't enough, but it happened." Mindy pushed past the reporter, waving for a taxi.

"But  _why_  did it happen? NASA's not stupid. They had to know they could have waited it out."

"The wind wasn't the only problem." Mindy argued. "Martian dust is extremely fine. It can practically roll through the HAB walls at the best of times. If it dug its way into the MAV under high-speed, it could have clogged something; done damage in ways we couldn't predict. All that dust rubbing together at high speed? A lightning strike, static discharge? A spark big enough could have wiped the HAB controls, the MAV computers... It could have marooned them  _all_."

"With air that dry?"

"A lot of what we know about Martian Weather is different when you're in it, Miss Bar-why am I talking to you? No comment." Mindy waved, and the cab saw, slowing down.

"Has anyone raised a question about something being faulty with the Ares III Bio-Monitors?" Barnes pressed, in a hurry now.

"No comment." Mindy repeated, exasperated.

"Has anyone raised a question about something being faulty with the Ares III Bio-Monitors?" Barnes repeated sharply as the cab pulled up.

"If they have, I wasn't there." Mindy snapped, fed up. "But those sensors declared Watney dead, when he was actually alive; so something must have happened. If it was bad luck or bad workmanship I don't know; nor do I care. He's coming home. They all are."

Barnes' face changed. She had her quote.

Aghast, Mindy got into the cab and shut the door hard. She said nothing as the door closed between them. And then she burst into horrified tears once the cab pulled away from the curb.

* * *

"I can't believe I went on the record." Mindy mourned.

Annie held out a Gatorade. "Here. It'll help clear your head."

"Off the record! Three words. Three words, and I forgot." Mindy drank it down in three large gulps.

Annie would have laughed if she'd been capable of smiling. "You never forget your first ambush journalist."

"Annie, I'm sorry. I know I should have-"

"Mindy, Chill. I know Barnes. She's not a shock-jock, or a tabloid journalist. She's an investigator. If she ambushed you, it's because she already had at least ninety percent of what she asked about."

Mindy looked up, suddenly hopeful. "Then this isn't a disaster?"

"Oh, get over yourself." Annie scorned. "This is why I get paid... well, okay, why I  _should_  get paid the big money." She lowered her voice a bit. "And the thing is, I'm not so sure Barnes is wrong."

Mindy sighed. "The bit about the air pressure on Mars was dead on. They should have been able to wait it out. Which raises the question..."

"I know." Annie was silent a long moment, turning something over in her head. "Let me ask you something... Barnes was right. You were the one that marked that Storm. How many people would have been CC'd on that?"

"Lots of people." Mindy blinked. "We funded part of the mission with grants and contributions to Private Enterprise. There was a lot of data going back and forth. Mission Control, JPL, a lot of Universities; any other government with a space program... They all got access in real time. Then the Contractors. Aerospace firms, corporate sponsors..."

"Why the Aerospace Companies?" Annie pounced.

"The construction got spread around." Mindy shrugged. "Five or six different Think Tanks and R&D companies constructed various components. A Private Energy Conglomerate made the RTG. SpaceX handled all the unmanned supply drops, including the Ares IV MAV. Pioneer got a lot of the Environmental Systems, NASA handled the training and Sys-Ops-"

"And all of them were hungry for info, since that was where they got returns on their investments." Annie sighed. "Mara Barnes could be hunting any of them. I'll talk to Vincent. Don't worry, I'll leave your name out of it."

Mindy withdrew into herself a bit. "Gawd, I hope she doesn't write anything about Aunt Minnie."

* * *

Months passed, and Mindy spent weeks waiting for Barnes to publish some damning report. But it didn't come. Mindy wasn't sure if the story had gone nowhere, or if Annie had done something, but she never heard from Barnes again.

The interest from the world died down, until the  _Hermes_ got closer to Earth Orbit Insertion, and then it went viral again. The Ares III Mission had been taken apart with a fine tooth comb, and everyone knew almost everything, except for what went on in the brain of the world's first legally recognized Martian.

As the questions came back, even after being answered, getting more and more pointed, until reaching near frenzy; some closed-door meetings began at NASA, figuring things out.

Mindy was not in these meetings. That wasn't her job. But when the deceleration burn was flawlessly completed, and the _Hermes_ ' arrival became a near certainty, Mindy was fetching some coffee, when Mitch and Vincent joined her in the breakroom.

* * *

"What do you know about Quarantine Procedures, Mindy?"

Mindy blinked at the unexpected question as Mitch made them all coffee. "I know that the Apollo 11 Crew had a three week quarantine when they returned, just to be safe."

"Turned out to be unnecessary, since the moon was so devoid of life, there was nothing for them to catch. Mars is another matter. We've confirmed bacterial life since Ares II. Plus whatever Mark did to grow his crop."

"They've been sealed up together for months. You don't think there's an issue?"

"We do not." Mitch admitted. "But it's less about public health and more about security. Mark and the others have been through a hell of a mission; and long-term isolation does things to people. There's a lot of ground to cover before we turn the Press and the general public loose on them, and Security says there'll be no way to secure the whole complex."

"We're a civilian agency." Vincent put in. "Armed guards isn't what we do, and with all the cameras of the world pointed at us, now is not the time to create that image."

"Ah." Mindy swiftly understood. "But if we called it a 'health and safety' inspection?"

"Right. A 24 hour Quarantine of the astronauts that have done things beyond any former procedure, with materials that were never meant to have human contact; like the waste disposal bag, the RTG... So we've hit upon the solution of making the ISS their Quarantine Bay."

"That Quarantine is on their return from Space, not from Mars. Doesn't the 24 hours have to start with them landing?" Mindy asked.

"It's the best we can do.  _Hermes_ Docks with the station, The Crew spends a day prepping for the avalanche of crap that's going to land on their heads the second they see blue skies again, and we don't have to pop Annie Monstrose with a tranq gun."

Mindy looked at him. "Are you prepping Mark Watney, or are you protecting yourself from the Wrath of Annie?"

Vincent was silent a moment. "Why can't we do both?"

Mindy laughed, and sipped her coffee, heading back to SatCom, when Mitch got in her way at the door. Mindy blinked, surprised the conversation was still going.

"The thing is, Mindy: There's an awful lot of attention on this particular team." He explained. "Every news station and website on the planet is trying to get greater access to our comms, under the Freedom of Information Act. And most of it they'll get, given that we don't have the power to Classify data. The laws about which communications are private and confidential, and which ones get archived for posterity is… hard to define. Until now, most people haven't cared."

"And then there's the Oversight Committees." Vincent added. "The Senate and Congress are fighting over who gets to investigate us first. Watney's the key witness to the End of All NASA. The Government has a legitimate claim to anything we say, even if it's confidential. If they figure out what Mark's being prepared for, they can use it against him in the Hearings. We'd be showing our hand before the match even starts."

Mindy suddenly got what she was in this little meeting. "Ah, so you need to sneak someone into the comms with his family? Keep it private?"

"Nope." Vincent put in. "CNN beat us to that. There's a slither of lawyers already in the Press Room."

"And then there's everyone else." Mitch added. "Two Hacker groups have posted the Encryption Key we use on our 'Personal and Confidential' comms."

"I know." Mindy said seriously. "Took me hours to calm Mama Watney down when Anonymous released her email history."

"So you see the problem." Mitch took a breath. "In fact, there's only one way we can be certain to keep Watney's Prep off the air, and that's to have someone speak with him in person. Can't sue for, or hack, or open source transcripts of a call that doesn't get made."

"Falcon 12 is making a supply run to the ISS, specifically for the Ares Return. We've already booked a passenger to go along." Vincent nodded. "Someone's going up to to the ISS to meet the  _Hermes_ Crew for Debrief during their 'Quarantine'; and they all come down together."

"Okay." Mindy nodded. "Who'd they pick?"

Vincent gestured at Mitch. "Annie and Teddy put their heads together and came up with ten names; Mitch and I whittled it down to five; the Ares Crew got it down to three, Commander Lewis picked the one."

Mindy nodded, and stirred her coffee. By her second sip, she realized they were waiting for her. "You want me to talk to them about something? Because I've sat in on the meetings, but I don't know what I could add that they can't get from you."

Mitch just looked at her. Vincent grinned. "Told you you'd have to spell it out."

"You did." Mitch nodded, still looking expectantly at Mindy.

The lightbulb finally went off. "ME?!" She almost shrieked. "Oh no. No way!"

"Why not? You just said you know all the material, and you've been sitting in on all the meetings."

"Vincent, I picked this job specifically because I don't have the nerve to actually  _be_  an astronaut."

"You didn't pick this job. You got drafted out of SatCom when the Mission changed. And you originally asked for the night shift specifically because you'd have the place to yourself and wouldn't run into me." Vincent reminded her. "But when the moment came, you didn't hesitate to ring me at two in the morning." He smirked a bit. "Don't know how to tell you this, Mindy; but your career has taken an unexpected turn into major relevance; and I've waited almost two years for you to notice."

Mindy was trembling. "I'm going into space."

Kapoor nodded, happy for her. "Congratulations."

* * *

Her mother had heard the news and shrieked so loud that Mindy wondered if her neighbors were calling the cops. But she had been all for it.

"My baby girl is an astronaut! I am totally going to buy a bumper sticker to inform the world! The vengeful hens at Book Club will be eating their hearts out!"

Mindy almost didn't have the heart to tell mom that she wasn't nearly as enthused.

* * *

**MPark** : So, I wanted to warn you, I'm going to be offline for a week or two.

**MWatney** : Finally sick of humoring me, huh?

**MPark** : Never. Though, I admit; actually having you close enough for a real-time conversation is preferable.

Mindy hovered over her choice of words for several seconds before she sent that.

**MWatney** : Preferable? Try 'near-miraculous'. JPL had to send me those twenty lines of Pathfinder code four times before I got them right. I don't know how Super-Nerd does it.

**MPark:**  Well, weep not for my 'offline' status, Space Pirate. Another week, and you'll have far more conversation than you can stand.

**MWatney** : Including you?

Mindy smiled to herself. She had planned to tell him that she was assigned to meet him on the International Space Station in person, but suddenly decided against it.  _Let him be surprised._

**MPark** : We'll speak again. That much I can promise.

Mindy closed down for the night and headed out.

When she reached her Campus Housing, she found a letter had been pushed under her door. The envelope was blank. There was no name or return address on it.

Mindy opened it up and looked. A moment later, she was rushing to her phone.

* * *

"It's a photocopy. Whoever sent it to Mindy still has the original." Vincent observed.

"Can we be sure it's genuine?" Teddy asked. "The original, wherever it is, looks like it's in many pieces."

"Given what it says, can you really be surprised by that?" Mindy asked.

"You think it's real?"

"I think it's a lot of work to go to for a fake." Mindy shrugged. "There's nothing written on the envelope, boss. Someone walked right up to my door and hand-delivered it while I was at my post."

Mitch walked in. "What's going on?"

"Miss Park returned to her quarters this evening and found someone had left her something." Teddy handed the page to Mitch. "It's a photocopy of an Internal Corporate Memo, labelled 'Confidential'. The memo was apparently run through a shredder, and then taped back together, but you can still read it."

"Pioneer Aviation." Mitch read. "In our opinion, the struts on the..." Mitch stopped reading aloud, his eyes going dark and hard.

"In Engineer-Speak, it looks like they knew the lock-nuts and support struts on the HAB Sat-Dish would break off under a lot less strain than the rest of the HAB." Vincent said to Mitch, mostly to break the cold silence. "The Management probably figured they'd get away with it, since the air on Mars is so thin it wouldn't have to stand up to strong winds."

"Then the storm hit." Mindy piped up. "The dish broke off, exactly as the engineers warned them it would, and it's probably the only lightweight component with that big a sail-area. So it went flying off the HAB and took Mark with it."

Annie gave Teddy a hard look. Mitch did the same, glaring hard enough that Mindy half-expected to see Teddy burst into flames. Teddy's eyes flicked to Mindy.

"Barnes already tried her luck with Mindy." Annie put in. "You can tell her."

"What? What is it?" Mindy asked, worried now.

Teddy sighed. "Miss Park, use your discretion with this information. Those conclusions about the Comm-Dish? We figured that out by Sol 16. But there was no way to prove it; with all the evidence left on Mars. By the time we restored communication to Watney, he'd cleared away all the debris; and our focus was on getting him back."

"NASA gave the job of construction and assembly to a lot of Private Companies. Raised employment, lowered costs to the taxpayer. But you give a company a million dollars, and they can do the job for less, they get to keep the surplus. After Sol 6, we figured one of our private contractors had done the bare minimum job they could, everything to the lowest bidder." Mitch added, holding up the page. "And if their own engineering team warned them that they were putting the mission at risk..."

"Hence the paper shredder." Mindy nodded. "So, with the hearings gearing up, is someone trying to help us, or throwing us a fake lead?"

"If this memo is real, and someone shredded it; then there's probably a falsified one in the official records." Mitch put in. "I can check."

"Annie, try and find out if anyone else is onto this." Teddy directed. "Mitch, very quietly look it up; but keep this copy in a drawer until the hearings. I don't want to use it; and it's too risky unless we know where it came from. Vincent, see if you can find out who delivered this to our campus. Miss Park; you're already late for your flight."

Mindy checked her watch. "I am."

Annie rose. "I'll walk you out."

Once they were alone, Annie said what she was thinking. "I don't think it came from Mara Barnes... But I bet she'd like a look at it."

"I haven't shown it to anyone but you guys." Mindy promised. "But Barnes didn't ask me about the Dish. She asked me about the Bio-Monitors the crew was wearing."

"Well, don't mention this to  _anyone_." Annie told her. "Pioneer Aviation got the contract for most of the Environmental Support Equipment. That includes communications, like the Dish... And the spacesuits; including the monitors."

"And if they embezzled taxpayer money by building a crappy dish, then they might have done the same with the suits." Mindy sighed hard. "They snuck this to me, Annie. I'm the 'back-channel' contact. This cannot possibly be my life."

"Says the newly-minted Astronaut."

"Don't count your chickens, Annie. I still have to pass training before they let me launch."

"I'd wish you good luck, but I don't really believe in luck."

"Yes, you do."

"I believe in  _bad_  luck." Annie clarified. "Have fun."

* * *

The training was… unpleasant. Why Mindy needed survival training was beyond her. She was going into orbit for a few days, not getting marooned on the Planet of the Apes. The Zero G training made her stomach do flips, and mission prep was more of less handled before she got there, so she had nothing to do but chew her nails.

After the prep came a quarantine. Mindy was scrubbed down to the point of feeling violated by women in clinical clean-suits; and then kept in a sterile room for two days. Convinced that Mindy was harmless, she was then dressed in a spacesuit and taken to a bus, which would drive her out to the launch site.

"Sorry about this." Vincent told her awkwardly over the Comms. "But even if the 24 hour Quarantine period is mostly about avoiding cameras, we still have to keep our Astronauts healthy. You can imagine how a stomach virus or a cold and flu season can rip through a sealed up, close-quarters tin can. It was either scrub you sterile, or have you stay in a surgical mask and gloves around Watney and the others for the entire flight."

Mindy nodded like it was all to be expected. She put on the bravest face she'd ever had, but inwardly she was trembling. This was really happening. This was real. It was really happening to  _her_.

* * *

The Falcon had room for several passengers. Commander Hunter was her only companion on the flight. Mindy was alone with the pilot and half a dozen empty chairs.

"The ISS Commander was rotated home a week ago." Hunter explained at Mindy's awkward look. "All these seats will be filled when you and the Crew come back to Earth; but Martinez will be flying that one. The Falcon flies herself until we get near docking with the Station, but we don't launch anything without a pilot. These things cost millions to build, even the reusable ones. Throw in the Two Bits that our miserable butts are worth, and it comes to quite a pretty penny. To date, Watney's the only man who's ever been launched from anything by full remote control."

"Wouldn't work with most near-earth flights." Mindy agreed as the ground crew checked her straps, secured her cargo tightly. "Re-Entry blackout means remote control is way too risky."

"Yup. Don't worry, Miss Park. You're gonna feel like you've been thrown into space by a long, massive, hydrogen explosion, but it's only because that's exactly what's about to happen."

Mindy let out an 'eep' and gripped her straps tightly, even with almost twenty minutes to go before launch.

* * *

Lift-Off was terrifying and exhilarating. Mindy could feel her eyeballs being pushed against the back of her skull for almost five minutes. Everything in her body felt like it was trying to climb its way out of her back.

The jolt from Multiple G's on liftoff to Zero Gravity was exactly what Mindy imagined death must be like, suddenly feeling her soul get hurled free from her body.

And then it all stopped. Everything. Five minutes of unthinkable pressure, noise, and crushing weight was replaced with the sensation of floating.

Everything was floating, inside and out. She swallowed thickly as she could feel her saliva float off her tongue and curl into a little liquid ball in her mouth.

"And that, as they say, is how we do that." Commander Hunter said with a light chuckle, as though he'd just gone for an invigorating jog. "How you doing over there, rookie?"

"I-ohno, get the helmet off me, please!" Mindy moaned.

Hunter quickly did so, tossing her helmet over his shoulder, and holding out a paper bag. Mindy had been directed to fast for several hours, but it didn't matter. She could feel her organs floating 'upwards' inside her body. She hurled into the bag for what felt like a long time. Her stomach just refused to go back where it belonged.

* * *

When the airlock opened, and the air of the ISS rushed in, Mindy felt like she'd just stepped into a gym locker. The air was thick, and the smell was cloying. Air fresheners weren't nearly enough for a cramped tube with no air circulation, and no way to shower, beyond using a moist towelette.

"Commander Hunter. Welcome aboard, sir." Said Lieutenant Driver.

"Ben!" Hunter rotated lightly in Zero Gravity to float in feet first. "Good to see you. The place is just like I remember it. I don't suppose you've met Mindy Park?"

"I have not." Driver held out a hand to Mindy. "Welcome aboard."

Mindy tried to take his hand… and promptly grabbed for the air-sick bags; puking hard again.

Driver didn't even blink, guiding her in gently. "Man, if I had a nickel for every time a pretty girl had that reaction to meeting me."

* * *

"Don't be embarrassed. Get it all out now, before you go in the Quarantine Zone." Hunter told her, still with that 'just another day at the office' tone. The casual way the astronauts took to it just made her feel more mortified.

"I honestly didn't think I had anything left after lift-off." She told Hunter as he handed her breath mints. "Sorry about the… smell."

Hunter actually laughed. "Miss Park, we've had civilians up here before. One of them didn't get the helmet off in time. Another one didn't get to the bag fast enough. Imagine cleaning that up."

Mindy appreciated the kind word, but she was already feeling like she was on roller skates, even before zero gravity.

"So, we've sterilized everything in the Station, save for Laboratory Module; which we've 'tented' for quarantine. Driver, Beechum and I will stay in there when  _Hermes_ docks."

"You know the Quarantine is mostly a formality, right?"

"In an environment like this, Miss Park? Formal procedure is code for 'not dead'."

Mindy nodded. "Well, then I guess I should run the checkli-whoa."

Mindy had been trying to 'swim' her way to the Quarantine Bay, and happened past the window, just as dawn broke over the earth below them.

Mindy forgot about everything. The mission. The _Hermes_. Her nausea. Everything was gone in an instant.

Mindy had worked at NASA, and with Satellite Feeds for her entire adult life. She'd seen a thousand images of different planets; and Earth more than the rest put together. One look out the window and all the photos were suddenly meaningless. Those photos were glossy, flat things. The view of the actual Earth out the window was something else entirely. Something a movie screen couldn't give her.

It had depth. It had depth, and scale, and… Mindy felt like she could reach out and touch the clouds, and she could see the shadows they cast on the mountains, and she could see the wind sending snow drifts from the mountains to the plains.

On the ground, it was weather that nobody could see coming or going, up here it was a painting, done in three dimensions, and Mindy could see from the snows of Kilimanjaro to the glorious rusty orange of the sunbaked Kalahari; all in one sweeping glance.

She could see tiny dots of light, and the exact line drawn from sunrise to sunset. It was sunrise every forty minutes in orbit. They were outrunning the dawn from one end of the day to the other.

She could feel the ash clouds of volcanoes reaching up to her, and unable to get close. She could see the ocean shining the sun like a million, billion diamonds crowded together.

And as addictive as it was, Mindy couldn't help but look up. Above them, the sun made its way, and Mindy suddenly realized she was able to see the moon; also with depth and presence. She could suddenly see the sphere of things, instead of the flat round discs that she'd seen in the sky, or the picture-books. The stars there there too, frozen, lacking that twinkle that they had from Earth.

"Something, isn't it?" Driver said from beside her.

Mindy jumped, suddenly aware that she was floating. Every motion she made wanted to keep going on it's own follow-through. She'd forgotten that other people were there. "Oh! I'm sorry, was…"

"Relax. We spend a lot of time at this window. You like the view?"

"You can tell, from the way I haven't blinked or breathed in the last five minutes, huh?" Mindy admitted ruefully.

"Five minutes? Miss Park, you've had your nose against that window for the last hour."

Mindy checked her watch, surprised. "Huh. Good thing you said something, or I might have starved to death just… earthgazing."

Hunter chuckled, over from the Quarantine Bay. "Come sign off on the 'clean room' they've set up, and you can go back to the view."

"We spend a lot of time at that window." Driver put in.

"Sorry. Was I hogging it?"

"You're here a day. Another three hours before  _Hermes_ arrives. Enjoy it."

"I will." Mindy said eagerly. "Mitch was right. You have to earn the view."

* * *

Mindy was still staring out the window when the Station came far enough along its orbit that she could suddenly see the _Hermes_. Her eyes stayed glued to it as the rotating sections came to a slow halt, and the forward docking bay came closer to the Station.

_I can see the scorch marks where they blew the airlock off._  Mindy thought to herself as the secondary Bay lined up. There was a slight jar that moved the walls. Floating free, Mindy heard it, but didn't feel it.

"Alright, folks. That's our cue." Hunter declared to the other two members of the station crew. "Make your way to the Laboratory Module."

The astronauts did so, and Mindy found herself waiting at the hatch. She knew the procedure, and broke the seal as the airlocks met and equalized.

"There you are." Mindy said automatically, though her heart suddenly sped up.

Mark Watney, in the flesh, was coming through the airlock. As the lowest ranked person on Ares Mission, he was the one that opened the door.

Mindy felt a sudden spike of stage fright. She'd been talking to him for months, and yet she suddenly felt so... shy.  _What if I can't think of anything to say, for the first time ever?_

"Permission to come aboard?" Mark called eagerly through the airlock radio.

_He's real._ Mindy found herself thinking.  _He doesn't just exist on a screen, he's a Three Dimensional, flesh and blood person._ Mindy pulled the release. "Permission Granted!"

She could see the exact moment he saw her, and put it together. The door opened between them and Mark smiled widely. "Guardian Angel? Is that really you? I didn't expect to see you up here."

Mindy blinked hard. _His face looks better than the last time I was on the video conference. He's here, face to face. He's real, and he's got a face, and he's smiling at me!_

"Surprise!" She heard her voice say. "Good to see you, sir. In person, I mean."

Mark laughed. "You've probably logged more time 'seeing me' than-"

"No." Melissa Lewis said sharply from behind him. "There's no way to end that sentence that will be as cool as you think."

_Lewis is real too._  Mindy thought with a dizzy smile as the astronauts came in.  _And Beck. Johanssen. Vogel. Martinez._

"Welcome home." Hunter said grandly from the Laboratory. "We were going to have a brass band, but they couldn't fit the instruments in the Falcon."

"Don't worry. Commander Lewis was kind enough to play us some celebratory disco anthems." Mark drawled with a horrified shudder.

"You sang along, I will say no more than that." Lewis smiled like a Cheshire Cat, and held out a hand to Mindy. "Good to meet you finally, Miss Park. We've all been looking forward to getting home; and it's right that you're one of the first people we see when we arrive."

_She knows my name. The most famous people in the world know my name._ Mindy fought to speak normally. "It's an honor, Commander. But as it happens, I'm not just here to brief Mark." She pushed her way over to the secondary Docking Ring, and pulled out one of the packages she had arrived with. "I have packages from home for all of you."

"Ah!" Six voices cried out at once and nearly pounced on her. In Zero Gravity, they could come from every direction, and had trouble slowing down.

They weren't letters. They'd been emailing with their families all through the mission. This was something else. Vogel got one of his kid's school awards. Martinez got new pictures of his own. Johanssen got a stuffed toy, which moved her to tears for a reason she wouldn't say, but Beck clearly knew. Beck was sent a pocket-watch. He checked the engraved section discreetly, and then shut it quick, hiding it in his hand.

Commander Lewis received an envelope, and opened it to find a large maple leaf, in beautiful brown and gold colors. She smiled softly to herself. "It's fall back home." She told the others.

Mindy saw the gravity of their reaction as they gazed at the maple leaf. Lewis was holding it up to them like a holy relic; and they were treating it as such.

Mindy shivered. She'd never gone without seeing a  _leaf_  for several years.

Mark finally looked at her expectantly, and she took out a wrapped parcel. "From your father. Be  _strong_ , Blondebeard." She told him lightly.

Mark unwrapped the parcel, and reared back from it like it was on fire. "Are you kidding me?!" It was a potato, scrubbed clean… with an address written on the side in permanent marker. "Is that my parent's house?!"

Mindy nodded. "According to your dad, they've been arriving in the mail by the dozen since they found out about your crop."

"Oh, merciful Buddha…" Mark moaned.

"I'm fairly certain it's a sign of affection, Mark." Beck said lightly.

"Hero worship." Johanssen put in.

"And there's plenty of hero worship to go around, Sir." Mindy put in. "I've got requests for you to lecture in every university around the world. Personal requests from the Ivy League Deans."

"Didn't they all reject you when you applied?" Beck needled his friend.

"They did." Mark agreed with a smirk.

"You got requests from CNN, Sky News, BBC, and Fox. I routed everything Press Related to Annie Montrose." Mindy went down the list, holding up one post-it note after another. "The Iowa State Caucus would like you to tour the farms where those original seed taters came from, so that all the local politicians can have their photo taken with the Solar System's most popular spud-farmer. The UN Legal Office would like to meet with you regarding the legal status of Mars. Given that you're the first Martian Colonist, they need to meet with you regarding international Treaty Law." Mindy rolled her eyes at the next one. "And 'The Watney-Sluts of Rhode Island' would like you to know that if you should 'feel the need for any physical comfort during your transition back to Earth', they-"

Lewis took that particular slip straight from Mindy and tore it up. "I think not."

"Yes,  _mom_." Mark drawled.

Mindy moved on. "A few legal firms have expressed an interest in representing you in the inevitable hearings."

"Speaking of that, you're going to need a lawyer too, boss." Watney said to Lewis.

"And The 'Miss Universe' Pageant would like you to be a judge." Mindy finished.

"Tell them I'd do it, but every year they only have contestants from Earth, so I think it might be rigged." Mark said promptly. "Oh, wait. I've got something for you too, Guardian Angel." Mark reached into his jumpsuit pocket and drew out a small stone, sliding it to her through zero g.

Mindy blinked as she caught it. "This is from Mars?"

"It is."

Mindy rubbed the smooth stone between her fingers. "It's beautiful. Um… what is it?"

The ship geologist, Lewis gave it a practised nod. "Hydrated silica. More commonly known as Opal."

Mindy felt her heart hammering. "Um… The MRO Satellite has a CRISM. We found signs of Opal some years ago. It's a sign of water content, and one of the few… You got this for  _me_?!"

"When I was stopping in a crater, the Rover charged, and I was digging a hole to… well, dump a waste bag in, and I struck gemstone."

Lewis let out a long, low whistle. "First precious stone from another planet."

"I told myself I would give it to whoever found me first." Mark smiled at Mindy. "I didn't expect you to be here  _personally_ , but since you are…"

"Beat that, any guy who ever gave a girl  _anything_." Martinez grinned.

Mindy's hands were shaking. "I… I can't possibly accept this. It should go to NASA. It should be studied and spectrographed, and whatever it is you do to gemstones from other planets-"

"We already did." Lewis promised. "We've got all that equipment on _Hermes_. What do you think I've been doing all the way home? I'm a geologist; and I had a single sample for six months. I even buffed it up for you."

Mindy's face was drained of all color. "This… this is… this is…"

"I'd keep it, if I were you." Johanssen put in. She'd been so quiet that Mindy had almost forgotten she was there.

Commander Hunter took that moment to call from the 'sealed' section. "Mindy, the  _other_  package will need attention soon."

Lewis took the interruption to direct the rest of her crew. "We still have all the samples and data dravies we need to bring in for our return to earth. Debriefing Prep will take most of our stay here."

Martinez, Vogel, Beck and Johanssen headed back toward the ship. They'd stored all their early samples directly on the MAV, and thus had something to take with them when they launched early.

Mark sidled up to Mindy as the rest of the crew left them. "Was it too much?"

Mindy bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. "Yes. But I'm going to keep it."

Mark chuckled. "I'm glad. I don't know if you want to donate it to a museum, sell it for a nest egg, or mount it as jewellery. That I leave to you, but-"

"I would never sell this." Mindy knew that already. "Money gets printed all the time. This is irreplaceable, sir."

"Y'know, you haven't said my name since I came aboard. Who are you, and what have you done with Mindy?"

Mindy found herself giggling helplessly. "Sorry. I don't know why, but actually being in the same room as you guys is... wild."

"It really is!" Mark was smiling so big that Mindy felt her face hurt in sympathy. "Look at this! We're  _talking_!" If they'd had gravity, he'd have been bouncing up and down. "We're in the same place, and everything! Why didn't you tell me you were coming up here?"

"I didn't know myself, until a week ago." Mindy excused. "I would have thought you'd know. I was told the short-list was approved by you guys. Commander Lewis had the final say."

Mark's smile faltered a bit. "Yeah, I get the feeling they're keeping things from me. I don't even know what." He looked back at her. "But it's good to meet you at last."

A nervous habit, Mindy moved to tuck her hair back behind her ears, and hit metal. She had every strand of hair pinned back tightly. "They were an inch away from giving me a crew cut when I got this job. I must look a fright."

"The clips. It was a war between NASA and the Press when Lewis and Johanssen were assigned. Loose hair doesn't just get in the way: It's tinder. A stray hair floating behind a panel and into anything with an electric circuit could strike a spark. Trust me, you don't want that. I know better than most." Mark teased. "And I can honestly say you're the best looking person I've met in years."

"Thank you." Mindy flushed a little, shaking her head. "I still can't believe this is my life. I was already breathing air way above my paygrade when I was put in a meeting with Teddy." Mindy said quietly. "And I just called him 'Teddy' so you can imagine how many meetings there have been since then."

"Still not used to it?" Mark said sympathetically.

"Are you?" Mindy shot back. "You were the lowest rank on this flight until you went and got yourself marooned. There isn't anyone in the Solar System who doesn't know your name now."

"My folks must love that." Mark sighed. "They don't say anything, but I can tell…"

"Everyone came out of the woodwork." Mindy admitted, noticing Lewis' sharp glare in her direction. She moved on quickly. "Annie Montrose made a meal of some of the journalists that went sniffing around your folks. She sent an anonymous tip to two rival tabloids that suggested there were private messages in their trash." Mindy grinned a bit. "The video she shot of two journalists getting into a full on fist-fight over a torn open bag of garbage outside your parents' house? It went viral for weeks. Tweaked with sound effects of every kind." She pulled out her tablet. "I saved you a few. I particularly like the one with the Benny Hill soundtrack."

Mark laughed as he watched the videos, delighted. Out of the corner of her eye, Mindy noticed Lewis watching them both with a carefully schooled smile.

Mark noticed her expression. "That was your idea; wasn't it, boss?"

"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean." Lewis said politely.

"Right. What would ex-Navy know about combat? They're just bus drivers for the real soldiers, and pilots like me." Martinez put in helpfully as he came through with a sample case.

Lewis gave him a withering look, and Watney jumped in with a few quips of his own. When his back was turned, Mindy sent Lewis an apologetic glance.

* * *

"You know, don't you?" Beck asked Mindy quietly.

Mindy looked over her shoulder and lowered her voice. "Everything had to be inspected before launch. Your father came to me and asked me to handle the 'customs check' on that pocket-watch personally. I'm the only one that knows."

Beck drew the watch out of his pocket and flipped open the cover, revealing the engagement ring hidden underneath. "Think she'll go for it?"

"I would." Mindy nodded with a smile.

"You knew before, didn't you?"

"I'm the one who handled Mark's email. Including the one he sent you about telling Johanssen how you felt. Don't worry, nobody else saw it."

Beck blushed adorably. "I had told her, months before I got that letter. We couldn't talk about it, obviously."

Mindy mimed zipping her lips shut.

Beck was about to answer, but quickly pocketed the watch again and faded back when Mark came floating in; having apparently realized that they'd changed the subject on him. "They 'all came out of the woodwork', you said." He said to Mindy. "Which 'all' are you talking about?"

Mindy winced. "Pretty much everyone who ever saw your face."

Mark froze. "How bad did it get?"

"Well, I had a front row seat to the 'Mark Watney Show.'" Mindy offered. "I was on 'Watney Time' for almost eighteen months. You spent all that time in the HAB or the Rover. Would you watch that as a Reality Show?"

Mark squeezed his eyes shut. "So they had to fill in all that time with something more… Hollywood."

"Every school classmate, every former neighbor, a few… exes."

Mark let out a cry. "Rosa."

"Rosa." Mindy confirmed. "She got a seven figure deal."

"How bad?"

"The good news is, everyone hates her for telling the story."

"And the bad news is, her book sold out?" Mark guessed.

"Every copy." Mindy nodded. "Personal details, favorite foods… birthmarks." Mindy felt her heart hurt. "I hate to be the one to tell you, sir."

"Mindy, it's you and me; and the conversation has turned to my  _Birthmarks_. Please, for the love of fresh ketchup, stop calling me 'sir'?"

Mindy nodded. "Okay." She said meekly. She would have promised him anything in that moment.

"You think if I held my breath and tried really, really hard, I could jump back to Mars?" Mark asked finally. "It's the one place the Paparazzi couldn't find me and ask about whatever else Rosa sold to the world."

"Nobody is going to ask about Rosa." Mindy said simply. "Except Rosa. And the best thing you can do there is pretend you don't remember her name."

"I guess that's true."

"Besides, Earth is the only place in the Solar System you can get a deep dish pepperoni pizza delivered." Mindy offered. "Your family told me about your favorite pizza place in Chicago, and they rushed a special order to the launch site. It's been in a specially designed case, warming up for you since I arrived."

"That's the 'other package' Hunter mentioned?" Mark looked up at her, shaking off his funk. "Garlic knots?"

"Would I bring Pizza from Chicago, to California, to  _Orbit_ , and forget the garlic knots?" Mindy quipped. "But you should know, Commander Hunter is against the idea. He says this sealed tube is no place for garlic breath."

"Tell him it's my order, and if he tries to stop me, he can't have any."

* * *

Mark made a point of splitting the pizza with everyone. The pizza was carefully sliced to have enough portions for all of them. The 'tented' section of the Station included a flap they could pass things through, including deep-dish.

"To never eating potatoes again!" Mark toasted with his slice.

Everyone took their first bite in unison, except for Mindy. She observed everyone's reactions. The chorus of moans that came from that first bite were downright pornographic.

Mindy didn't eat, and after savouring his third bite, Mark realized it. "Don't tell me you're vegan?"

"No." Mindy chuckled. "But my stomach is still trying to push my lungs past my throat, and it took three mints to get the taste outta my mouth… And that was after fasting before the launch."

"Never been in Freefall before?" Johanssen guessed.

"Nope." Mindy admitted. "And not likely to ever do it again."

"Don't count on it." Commander Lewis put in. "The best qualification for space flight is to have done it before."

"Upchucked everything short of a lung, yesterday." Mindy admitted. "That can't be considered a positive quality, can it?"

"Frank Borman was heaving his guts out most of the way to the moon on Apollo 8." Beck volunteered. "It's like getting your Sea Legs. Once you get used to it, you never lose it again."

"And you probably know this by now, but I'm not much better." Mark admitted. "During training, Lewis had them send us through the 'Vomit Comet' three times longer than usual. She wanted to see what order people would break in." He sent Lewis a look of pure betrayal. "She, of course, was like a statue the whole time."

"And you puked first?" Mindy guessed.

"At the time, I was worried that would be my place in the history books. First to blow chunks on Ares III." Mark said sardonically.

"First is Forever." Mindy said with grim irony. "Or so I am told."

"Well, it is at NASA, anyway." Mark agreed. "You must be riding that wave yourself, if you were the first one to spot me, alive and kicking on Mars."

Mindy responded by offering her slice to Mark elaborately.

* * *

Half an hour later Mindy was staring at the space toilet, trying to decide if she could hold it another forty hours.

"Not worth trying. Believe me." Mark told her. The others from  _Hermes_ were giving Mark space. The Station Crew were doing the same. Mark was choosing who to speak to, working his way back into people. The Station was a lot smaller than Ares III. The feeling of a crowded space was inescapable; and using a space toilet was only going to make that feeling worse. "When you gotta go, you gotta go."

"I know. I'm just trying to work my way up to it." Mindy confessed. "How about you? First pepperoni in five years, lotta cheese…"

"After a diet of nothing but potatoes for that long, I'm amazed I can still go at all." Mark chuckled. "Listen, did I say something stupid over dinner? I'm out of practise talking to new people face to face; but when we started talking about 'First Is Forever'..."

"Yeah. I never felt right about that." Mindy confessed. "You're right, I've been Riding The Wave since Sol 54. Mitch was-Ooop!" She lost balance suddenly, wheeling a little. "Ack!"

Mark reached out and caught her, holding her still, one foot still planted to anchor them.

The strength of her reaction surprised her.  _He's got an arm around me. He's touching me. He's real, and he's here, and he's got a face, and he has an arm around me._

Starstruck as she was, she noticed right away that he was almost trembling.

_He hasn't met a new person in years, Mindy. Even you probably look pretty good to him, right now._  A little hopeful voice called to her against her insecurity.

"So, um…" Mark said quietly, not pulling away. "Mitch was?"

It took her several seconds to realize what he meant. "Oh. Right. Mitch thought it wasn't right to have me in the meeting, since I just got lucky. But then he apologized for it, and told me about that rule isn't just for Astronauts. First is Forever."

"That's how NASA started, really." Mark nodded. "Before rocket-flight, there were jet fighters trying to break the sound barrier." He smirked. "Who was the first person to break the Sound Barrier, Mindy?"

"Chuck Yager." She answered reflexively.

"Who was the second?"

Mindy chuckled, despite herself. "I don't know."

"So, go tell Chuck that he was just lucky. Plenty of people tried to hit that speed and died trying. He was the first volunteer to survive, but he didn't know it would turn out like that. Being lucky is a major factor. Especially for NASA."

"Take his word on that." Lewis said from the hatch. "Chance is a deciding factor in a lot of things. We, of all people, know that. There have been actual studies, trying to figure out how to measure luck."

"Can they?" Mindy couldn't help but ask.

"No. But Chance Favors The Prepared, than anything else." Lewis said, and she suddenly looked older. "Y'know, the hatch on an Apollo Lunar Landing Module is closest to the Co-Pilot's seat? Buzz Aldrin would have been the first man on the moon; by procedure. Neil Armstrong overruled the SOP to be the first one out."

Mindy's head tilted. "I didn't know that."

"Mm." Lewis looked over the two of them, and her face lightened a bit. "Well, don't let me interrupt."

Mindy suddenly realized that Watney was still holding her in place. Mindy found she was enjoying it. Night shift at SatCon meant she didn't have much of a social life, even before she had set her alarm to stick with Mark Watney's Schedule from a world away. She knew from reports that she'd transcribed herself that Mark was having trouble acclimating to being around people again on _Hermes_ , even if he didn't show it willingly.

Mindy had been an astronaut for a day, and she already knew in her bones what a treasure privacy and personal space was. The Ares III plan had been designed specifically to give all the Astronauts some personal time. Watney had had more alone time than anyone in the program. Maybe more than anyone alive.

The support of his arm suddenly felt awkward and clumsy, and Mindy pointedly put her feet against the velcro. "So, um… We should get to work."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thing I loved about The Martian was that it was 'hard sci-fi'. Everything in it was real science, except for the first five minutes. There's just no way a dust storm should have wrecked the mission. Buried it, maybe; but tipped the MAV? No. The Barnes storyline is my way of retconning it a bit. It won't be realistic science now, but it wasn't in canon either.
> 
> Read and Review!


	4. Off The Record

Bruce Ng came to the front desk of JPL. "I was told there was a package for me?"

The kid behind the desk handed him the large envelope; and Bruce opened it on the spot... to find a copy of TV Guide. "What?"

"Sorry, but they weren't going to let me past the security door." A woman's voice said.

Bruce turned and found a woman with a notebook in one hand, and a backpack over her shoulder. "Who are you?"

"Mara Barnes, Washington Post." The woman said. "I just need to ask you one thing."

Bruce's face changed. "All questions regarding active missions, or NASA procedure should be routed to the Press Office. I'm very sorry, Miss Barnes-"

"Mrs. And this isn't about NASA, exactly."

"Even so, the fact that you had to get me out here under false pretences-"

"I would have come to your house, but you never leave the lab, from what I hear."

"No comment." Bruce turned to head back past the secure doors.

"Rich Purnell is a Steely Eyed Missile Man." Barnes called after him.

Bruce froze, mid-step. He stayed in place for several seconds, before he turned and came back to face Barnes. "You feel like a cup of coffee, Mrs Barnes?"

"You read my mind." Barnes said with a Cheshire smile. "I'm buying. And we'd better walk and talk, because I have to get on a plane back to Houston in two hours."

* * *

There was no such thing as private space on the ISS. Mindy had learned quickly that privacy was done by mutual agreement to  _not_ hear a thing. So the Station crew was very pointedly not noticing as Mindy was walked through the Ares side of the Investigation of Mark's Accident.

"When we found out Mark was alive, Commander Lewis had us go over our equipment again." Vogel reported. "We ran our suits through every test we could think of. All of the tolerances and components were at the standards NASA sent us. We declared it a one-in-a-million accident."

"So did we." Mindy said quietly. "But just so you know, those 'NASA standards' were taken from the contractors that actually built the gear... and they may be falsified."

There was a dead silence, which quickly grew electric. Mindy saw the looks going back and forth, and knew they'd thought about the same thing.

"Mindy, are you telling me someone made the suits with cheap parts and shoddy workmanship?" Mark said darkly. "So that when my suit took a hit, the monitors went offline, so y'all thought I was dead and launched without me."

"I was... approached by a journalist who wanted to know if we were digging." Mindy asked. "More than that, I cannot say yet."

"Because you don't know, or because you were asked to keep quiet?" Beck asked. "Actually, don't answer that."

The atmosphere had changed in the Station. A moment later, Watney let loose a quiet torrent of truly profane judgement regarding corporations, their moral standing, and the general appeal of their mothers.

"You finished?" Lewis asked Watney politely.

"For now." Watney cooled a bit.

"Good." Lewis said shortly. "Johanssen, Martinez; go over the equipment again. Don't compare to the specs, do the math yourself. Save as many suits as you can for our return to Earth. NASA will want to take them apart." She turned to Watney. "You. Go chill the hell out. Remember, they went to the effort of mailing your penpal into orbit, specifically so that you don't lose your cool when the  _really_  insulting part begins."

* * *

"So, start talking. And we're off the record until I say otherwise." Bruce told her as he stirred his coffee.

"This interview is what we call 'deep background'." Barnes told him. "I need you to educate me about something for a story I'm working on. Nothing will be attributed to you, off the record or not."

"How'd you find out about Rich Purnell?"

"Doesn't matter. I wanted to get you out of JPL, and telling you the rumors were the only way."

_Rumors. So that's not the story she's on._  Bruce simultaneously relaxed and tensed. "So... what is this  _really_  about?"

Barnes handed him a page, which looked like it had been shredded and taped together. "Tell me about this memo."

Bruce read it, his eyes going hard. "I didn't write it. Or receive it."

"Or get a copy of it, I'm sure. It's an internal memo from Pioneer Aviation." Barnes nodded. "But NASA farmed out construction on a lot of the mission components to many private companies, including Pioneer. JPL, and your team in particular, were responsible for putting the jigsaw together when all those parts were done. I'm betting you know where the memo came from."

"I'd never seen it before until you handed it to me just now." Bruce said plainly.

"I believe you. But look again. The only thing on that memo that's not reassembled? The name of whoever sent it. That tells me that whoever wrote it was the one who sent it to me." Barnes looked hard at him. "I'm betting if they went to the trouble of writing a memo, someone must have spoken to you first. Even if only hinting at it."

Bruce shook his head. "Everyone at that level signs a billion Non-Disclosure Forms. They aren't invalidated for anything. They'd never talk to anyone"

"Which is probably why it was sent to me anonymously." Barnes nodded, eyes on him. "I'm betting a name popped into your head the second you saw what this memo was about."

Bruce hesitated, which was confirmation enough. "I can't prove anything... Off the record?"

"Deep background." She confirmed.

"There was a guy I worked with at Pioneer, when we were putting the HAB together. He said he wanted to meet with me, and then the meeting got cancelled at the last minute. I found out later that he'd taken another job, for a rival company. It didn't affect our schedules, and everything went on without missing a beat, so I didn't think anything of it. A lot of the top engineers change firms for lucrative contracts."

"You remember this guy's name?" Barnes had her notepad ready.

"Mallone, I think."

* * *

"Annie was able to get some of the questions in advance." Mindy said, handing Watney her tablet, open to the relevant text. "Of course, the press isn't obligated to share their full question list with us, but we can pretty much guess what they're driving towards with the 'background' questions."

Watney looked them over. "All the personal stuff I can figure out. If there's one thing I learned from living alone so long it's this: Be honest with yourself."

"How about with  _everyone_?" Lewis countered. "If a 'nice' journalist can make you cry on camera, it's a Pulitzer. They've promised to give you a 'discreet interval', given what you've been through; but it's going to be the biggest Press Conference since Moses came down the mountain."

"The interviews I can handle. I've been rehearsing that since I got in the damn rover. It's the Committee I'm worried about. NASA's at stake."

Mindy tapped at her tablet. "You want to start there?"

"You have those questions too?"

"No, but we know who's asking them. Senator Adler from Texas is heading the Committee. He's been making the rounds on all the prime time shows. From the rhetoric, we can probably guess how they'll be ruling."

"Senator Adler." Lewis repeated. "What do we know about him?"

"He's a major shareholder in an aeronautics firm called Pioneer Aviation." Mindy reported, keeping the rest of her knowledge on that to herself. "They got a bunch of the orders from NASA for some of your equipment."

"He was able to get his company a contract from the Government, and now he's going to lead the charge on investigating us?" Lewis countered. "Is that even legal?"

"No, but you're pretty popular with public opinion, so it's not like he has to fight for the job." Mindy commented. In her head, she translated the bit she didn't say.  _If anyone looks too closely at his company, he's screwed; so if he leads the charge, he can keep the focus on blaming astronauts._

Aloud, she gave them the mission plan. "The interview is all about getting the press on side." Mindy explained. "We get the Press to side with you, the cameras will do your job for you, Senator Adler and the other attention-whores will follow for the good of their re-elect."

"You've been talking to Annie Montrose." Mark quipped. "What's the most important question, do you think?"

"The cost of your rescue came to just over a quarter billion dollars." Mindy said promptly.

Mark waited for a moment. "What was the question?"

"Does it matter?" Mindy asked. "Quarter of a billion dollars. All they have to do is say that number, over and over."

Mark's mouth became a thin line. "What do they expect me to say? That they should have let me die?"

"Actually, they expect you to say that it's the cost of life in Space. " Mindy told him honestly. "And their answer will be-"

"If that's how it is in space, then let's not go to space." Lewis put in, low horror in her voice. She was horrified, but not surprised at all. "They'll use that price tag to end the Program."

"To end all of NASA, really." Mindy nodded. "Annie Montrose took me aside and basically told me the stakes." She gave him a sarcastic look. "No pressure, right?"

* * *

"Senator Adler." Annie said for the fourth time, like she had a foul taste in her mouth. "How can he possibly get away with this?"

"The 'conflict of interest' argument isn't what it used to be." Mitch sighed. "Pass me that box, will you?"

Annie nearly threw it at him. "How can you be leaving at a time like this?!"

"It was the deal. Teddy doesn't make a fuss about Elrond, and I hand in my resignation when they're home. May as well be packed."

"What did the wife say?"

"That it's about bloody time I came home at night." Mitch started filling the new box with assorted items from his office. "But you didn't come in here to bitch about the government, or about my early retirement."

"I can get Adler off our backs." Annie told him.

"Teddy said no."

"Heard that before."

"Annie."

"Let me take the memo public." Annie pressed. "I can blow Adler out of the water. Maybe the hearings too."

"It's too soon." Mitch told her. "You release that memo now, and they'll just pick someone else."

"That's what we  _want_." Annie snapped, fed up. "Adler will cover for himself by attacking Watney and Lewis, and he'll have no problem taking us all down with him. Mindy is under orders not to share the memo with anyone, but she knows that the Press is asking about the Bio-Monitors in their suits. She can tell them about Barnes' questions. They'll test their suits again; and if the results say what we both think it will-"

"Annie, we don't have the moral high ground." Mitch reminded her quietly.

"Elrond is going to come out, sooner or later." Annie snapped. "Get that through your head right now." She lowered her voice too. "I told Mindy."

"About Elrond?"

"She needs to know, if she's getting ambushed by reporters."

Mitch set his jaw. "You shouldn't have done that without our permission."

"Like you said, Mitch. We don't have the moral high ground here." Annie swept out.

* * *

"I saw the pictures." Mark countered. "The huge crowds gathering to see if I made it… You telling me that they'll respond to that by shutting us down?"

"No, but they'll slash our budget by two-thirds." Mindy shook her head. "And they'll have a great excuse. It'll even be true. We spent ten years worth of cash on this rescue, s-Mark."

"How do we fight that?" Mark demanded.

Mindy pulled up her notes. "NASA's entire annual budget is Seventeen Billion Dollars. American Casino's turn over more than half a  _trillion_  dollars annually. The United States Public spends almost thirty billion per year on ordering Pizza."

"Wonder what the deep-dish cost, given how far you had to deliver it." Lewis commented.

Mindy smirked and kept going. "Gillette spent 750 Million on Research and Development for the Mach 3 Razor in 1998, and that's already long obsolete. The American Taxpayer spends almost a full billion per year on NFL Stadiums, and they're privately owned companies. NASA is public access. After the war in Afghanistan wound down, the US Military spent Seven Billion Dollars blowing up surplus munitions. Every year, the US Mint runs a deficit of almost a hundred million dollars by making pennies; because it costs more to produce them than they're worth."

"Is any of that going to help?" Mark asked painfully. "If you ask a person if my miserable butt is worth a quarter billion, they'd say 'maybe'. You tell them they could make it all back by each skipping a Pizza; how many of them would change their answer?"

"Well, let's talk about you, then." Mindy tapped at her device. "The full Ares Missions were meant to cover a full ten years. Ares IV had a mission plan to leave a small team behind, and they would run tong-term experiments, as well as test equipment options on permanent habitation, until pickup by Ares V. Plus, the Ares III samples were meant to be observed under long term conditions. That's a trip the Ares IV crew doesn't have to make. NASA's been trying to figure out long-range transportation, which they managed to pull off with Mark's Rover." Mindy gestured. "So you personally ticked off more than three quarters of the checklists for the entire Ares Program."

"So what you're saying is, an argument could be made that I  _saved_  money." Mark mused, and there was no mistaking the note of hope in his voice.

"Which will give them all the more reason to cancel the rest of the list." Lewis cut that off. "I know you hate owing people, Watney. But this one you can't pay back."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Mindy flipped through more notes. "To make a Martian Landing happen, we developed air and water recycling technology. Admittedly, these things existed before Ares, but to take it to another planet, it had to be reliable, idiot-proof, and fit into a cubicle. That tech works on earth too, so going to Mars makes it possible to supply clean drinking water to any one of a billion people in small dwellings. There's at least a dozen new patents of solar charging heavy Rover-sized vehicles. Communications tech had to be upgraded for Ares I, let alone Ares III. Weather Prediction Models have improved by at least thirty percent, and hurricane season is coming. To say nothing of billions of dollars spent on Research and Development; employing about ten percent of the United States for over five years."

"More than half those reasons were valid after Apollo. It took a whole two generations after that to get to Mars." Lewis pointed out.

* * *

Back in Houston, Mara Barnes had gotten off her plane and sat down at one of the many airport restaurants to eat something before heading home. By the time she had reached for a menu, Annie Montrose was sitting across from her. "Well, this is a surprise." Barnes said lightly, even a little impressed. "How did you know I'd be here?"

"It was hard work." Annie nodded. "I had to call your assistant and ask him where you were; and then he told me."

"Impressive." Barnes deadpanned. "I thought the Company Line was: 'No Comment on Procedure'."

"Who says I want to talk about NASA procedures?" Annie countered. "Did you order?"

"You aren't here for food." Barnes pushed a menu over anyway. "Does NASA even know you're talking to me?"

"They specifically told me not to, in fact." Annie glanced around. Sure enough, there was nobody that either of them knew. "Close your notebook. For the next five minutes, we're off the record."

Barnes did so. "Wait. Are you feeding me info, or are you here to ask what I know?"

"If I asked, would you tell me?"

"Probably tell my Editor first."

Annie bared her teeth. "My job would be so much easier if the reporters all worked for me."

"No doubt. So, 'off the record', what do you want to tell me?"

"Thought I might interest you in a 'credible rumor'." Annie leaned forward. "Has anyone asked why Senator Adler, of all people, is trying to get put in charge of the hearings?"

"Senator Adler is running for Re-elect soon."

"So's half the House and Senate. Why does he get to run the table?"

"If you're trying to remind me that he's got a financial stake in the Ares Missions, I already know that." Barnes reminded her.

"It's been almost two months since you ambushed Mindy asking about the Bio-Monitors. I'm guessing you've got a lot more since then. So why has nobody said something?"

Barnes snorted. "Can you remember the last time a public scandal affected a politician? I mean, at all? Financial, sexual, legal... It makes them look bad, but they all look bad over something. So much so that it doesn't stop anyone anymore."

Annie stared. "You're saying that if he was caught breaking ethics rules, the standards of the world are so low that... You're  _literally_  telling me that corruption is of no interest?"

"Not to my Editor. The public doesn't care, beyond a social media poll. The IRS will get involved, and the lawyers will get rich, and he may even face charges. But it won't stop him taking NASA down with him; unless it's something big. And I mean  _really_  big." Barnes picked up her notepad. "Why? Do you have smoking-gun  _proof_  of serious corruption?"

Annie hesitated. "No."

"I'll look into it later, then. Now, back on the record for a moment, what does Lord of the Rings have to do with Mars?"

Annie froze. "What?"

Barnes flipped her notebook open. "My Editor is screaming, because word is that CNN is going public with a story about something called 'Project Elrond'. I had to ask my teenage kid what that meant. Either you found Space Orcs, or it's a codeword for something."

"Yyyyeah." Annie stood up swiftly. "We don't comment on NASA procedures."

* * *

"Commander Lewis, this is going to take you too." Mindy put in. "When the Resupply launch failed, Doctor Watney went back to finishing the mission. They're going to ask y-"

"Mark Watney is not a soldier, but when facing his own death; and learning that the combined IQ and Engineering skill of all NASA had failed; Mark Watney responded by completing the Mission." Lewis said promptly. "After months of starvation rations, he did the work of five astronauts, finishing all the work that our full Ares III Mission would have done; had we not launched early. Watney is to be commended for understanding that the person is less important than the Cause; which is, in this case, the need for Humanity to escape the confines of Earth forever."

Mark's eyebrows had migrated to his hairline. "Rehearse that much?"

"Far too much." Lewis agreed.

Mark's face faltered. Mindy understood. Lewis had been preparing that speech since Mark had been declared dead.

Fortunately, Commander Hunter interrupted at that moment. "Mindy? NASA has a call for you, from your mom."

"My mom?" Mindy blinked, pushing her way over to the screen. "She can't figure out her Tivo, but she can call me on the Space Station?"

* * *

"You're upside down." Her mother said brightly.

"No, mom. You are." Mindy shot back.

"From this angle, I can see your nose hairs." Her mother returned. "It's not an attractive side to you."

Mindy rotated in front of the camera. "You win."

"How is it?" Her mother asked eagerly. "How's the view?"

"Out of this world." Mindy deadpanned.

"Oh, lovely. How long did it take you to think that one up?"

"Longer than I would have liked." Mindy admitted. "You see the launch?"

"We had everyone over. You know how Mrs Swinton is always bragging about her son being a medical intern, 'which is practically a doctor'? Well today, nothing. Not a peep out of her. It was the first time I enjoyed having her in my house."

"Glad to be of service." Mindy commented dryly.

Mindy's tablet buzzed.  _"I'm with your mom on this one, Mindy. What's the point of suddenly being awesome if you can't make your closest friends want to die?"_

Mindy spun as best she could while floating. "Are you eavesdropping on my private calls?"

"I figured I was due." Watney quipped from the other end of the room. "You've read and decoded more of my correspondence than anyone else."

"Is that him?!" Mindy's mother shrilled excitedly. "I wanna see!"

Mindy did a quick calculation of which would be worse. Having Watney in the call, or telling her mother 'no'. It didn't take long, and she waved him over.

Watney drifted past the camera in a slow, horizontal glide. "As much as I'd love to keep teasing, private comms are the only nod to human dignity you get in space; and the only thin veneer of privacy we pretend matters. I shouldn't have been listening. Heaven knows I've gotten more 'personal privacy' than anyone else up here."

"Trust me, I'm not offended." Mindy's mother said eagerly. "I heard you weren't tipped off she'd be there."

"It was a very nice surprise." Mark reported dutifully.

"You know, Mindy is single." The older woman put in.

Mindy turned bright pink. Watney didn't even hesitate. "So am I. Though, your daughter tells me that could change the second I get down to the surface."

Mindy winced. "Ohno, don't encourage her-"

"The surface? My daughter saw you first!" Mrs Park hooted. "Literally! Twice! You've been named The Solar System's Most Eligible Bachelor. People Magazine made that title up just for you!"

"Why did you not tell me this?" Mark demanded of Mindy with a grin.

"And what is the point of having a co-ed space station if you can't experiment with Zero Gra-"

"Good  _god_ , mom!" Mindy flushed, cutting her off. "I know it's a personal call, but come  _on_!"

"I want grandchildren! You've been spending your nights at NASA for three years, surrounded by geeks who are too intimidated to do anything but stare mooningly at posters of Johanssen."

Mark burst into hysterical laughter, so strong that he did a backward double somersault. "Hey, if this thing with Mindy doesn't work out, you want to be  _my_  mom?"

"Is that my only option?" The older woman said saucily.

"I'm telling dad you said that, and I'm hanging up now." Mindy said promptly.

"Waitwaitwait! There's a reason I'm calling! Someone named Mitch told me to give you a message. He said that since this was a personal call; he couldn't do it. Or something like that."

Mindy twitched. The whole point of sending her was that conversations between the ISS and Mission Control were public record. "What's the message?"

Mrs Park checked a post-it note she had with her. "It says 'Elrond goes public in the morning'."

"Elrond?" Mark repeated as Mindy turned pale. "Like Lord of the Rings?"

* * *

The  _Hermes_ Crew assembled. The ISS Crew stayed in the laboratory module, promising to play some music loud enough that they wouldn't be able to hear anything. It was the only way Mindy could brief the crew. The sound of Gloria Gaynor echoed quietly from the other compartment as the Hermes crew assembled.

"Okay, here it is." Mindy told them. "Word leaked, about the Rich Purnell Maneuver."

"What do you mean? How could it possibly be a secret?" Mark blinked.

Mindy and Lewis traded a look. Finally, the Commander sighed. "The Trajectory isn't a secret, Mark… What  _is_  a secret is that we weren't told about it, officially. In fact, it was hidden in a personal email to Vogel; and we had to… hijack the ship to make it happen."

"What?!" Mark was stunned.

Mindy took over. "Teddy said no. He ruled that it was too risky to keep five astronauts in the sky for a year longer than needed."

"I hacked the hardware, so NASA couldn't override us." Beth added. "They had to resupply us or have five dead astronauts in a long, slow loop around the Solar System."

"You guys mutinied." Mark blurted.

"I wasn't told until after you guys made it back; but it's not a surprise." Mindy put in. "Mitch has been saying his goodbyes."

"Mitch was fired?"

"Resigned. Or will, once you land." Mindy bit her lip. "He didn't even hesitate to make that trade, guys. There were only four or five people in the room when Elrond happened. It's not he could get away with it..."

"How bad is it going to get, now that word's out?" Vogel asked quietly.

"You guys  _mutinied_." Mark said again.

"We took a vote. It was unanimous." Beck said shortly.

"Which means nothing. Hermes wasn't a democracy." Lewis said immediately. "Look, guys… We never planned to go back to Mars."

"You guys  ** _mutinied_**." Mark repeated.

"Mark, give us the room." Lewis said quickly. "You're the only one that wasn't in that vote. Go pretend you're not eavesdropping like the rest of the ISS team."

Mark did so, leaving Mindy and the rest of the crew.

"The job just got harder." Mindy said quietly. "You guys will have to face a few hearings of your own, if they can't head it off before you land." She lowered her voice further. "Annie tells me that some of the major players in government are setting up to take centre stage. Half of them want to throw you a parade and make sure all the cameras see you shaking their hands. The other half want to feed you to sharks, and have all the cameras see them do it. Annie gave me the party line, if that makes sense. I'll walk you through it."

"Me first." Lewis said quickly. "We'll go back to the ship; talk about it there."

"That's out of quarantine."

"Mindy, we've been in that thing for years. If I'm going to catch something…"

Mindy surrendered instantly, still struggling with the fact that these famous, larger-than-life space travellers knew her name. "Yes, Ma'am."

* * *

The two of them went into the airlock between the ISS and The Hermes. As soon as the door closed, Lewis turned to her.

The Commander was silent a moment. "I'm the one that put him on the Mission, you know." She said finally.

"Watney?"

"Mark was one of the candidates being trained with us in the early stage. There was a long list to get on board. The original Botanist bowed out early in the prep stage. There were two candidates for replacement; I requested Mark, specifically. He never knew."

"Why?"

"I'm Navy." Lewis said, as though that explained everything. "Women on Submarines is a relatively new thing, for an institution that talks a lot about 'centuries of proud tradition'. When you're in a tin can under half a mile of water, and you can't step outside for a breath of fresh air, military discipline is a tricky line to walk. Things get said, people get hot under the collar… Submariners know how fast a ship can get crowded. I requested Mark, because he was very good at defusing tension." She scowled a bit. "I also made the choice to leave him behind. Tension wasn't even the right word, before or after they told us."

"First thing Mark said to us was 'Not Dead'. Second thing was 'Not Their Fault'." Mindy put in. "We both know he was talking about you more than anyone else."

"I know. But…" Lewis rubbed her eyes. "It's not going to be hard to make the case that I led a mutiny for selfish reasons. A Commanding Officer doesn't get to act irresponsibly with their people because of personal guilt. Especially in the military; let alone in Space."

"I thought the crew voted."

"Unanimously. But I could have reminded them that Hermes wasn't a democracy and told them to follow their damn orders. I voted to do the opposite." Lewis sighed. "But that's not the point either. My career ends with Mars. It always would have. I knew that going in."

"So what's the worst that can happen?"

"A dishonorable discharge means no benefits, no pension. Instead of becoming the poster child for Women Commanders, I become the embodiment of all the 'over-emotional woman' cliches that the Talk Radio bastards love to trot out every time the subject comes up. To say nothing of the fact that an investigation means it  **all**  comes out. Elrond is just the start. We had to sabotage the ship in a few places to keep them from overriding us from Mission Control. Beth and Chris will become public knowledge before they're ready, and god only knows what that'll do to their relationship. A scandal in the Program would set NASA back twenty years. Mitch is gone already, he might even face charges. Maybe Teddy too. The Navy will be dragged into it too, just for giving me a commission." Lewis suddenly looked ancient. "This whole mission will make a great movie one day; but it was a massive mission failure, on international news. Someone's going to lose their head for it. And the only way for the politicians to save themselves will be to sacrifice a name people will recognize. Who do you think they'll pick?"

The answer was obvious, and they all knew it.

* * *

Sure enough, less than an hour later, Admiral Holloway, of the top Naval Brass, released a statement. Up on the Station, they all saw it.

"While we cannot dispute the results of the actions of the Ares III Commander and Crew; we nevertheless take very seriously the question of deliberate disobedience of orders. The need for discipline, and respect for the chain of command, especially in a mission critical environment, cannot be questioned.

"We are aware of the extraordinary circumstances under which this decision was made; and the courage displayed in extending the mission to bring the whole crew home. We must consider all our options, as we prepare for Commander Lewis' debriefing."

* * *

"They mentioned me by name." Lewis said, eyes on the screen. "Bad sign."

"If they were going to wave it off, they would have said so. The bit about 'extraordinary circumstances' was just covering themselves." Martinez jerked a thumb at Admiral Holloway on the screen, and glanced at Mark. "What can you expect from a Navy Man?"

"Navy Man." Mark agreed sagely, and Lewis flipped them off. "Just teasing, boss. Look, obviously we're not going to let them get within lynching-distance of you. We'll fight this, and we'll win."

"I don't think that'll be up to you, Mark."

"Are you kidding? After the things we've done for the last three years, you think the lawyers are the ones that'll beat us?" Mark insisted. "The IRS maybe, but the lawyers? I'd rather go down swinging."

"The price tag made it a hard sell already. How do you think you're going to save me too? NASA can salvage themselves by sacrificing me." Lewis argued. "Guys, if it finishes my career, so be it. I just don't want the rest of you dragged through the same muck that they'll bury me in."

And Mindy suddenly realized that Mark was looking at her expectantly. "What?"

"You've been in the room all this time, Mindy. What's the next move?"

"They sent me home before 'Elrond' was decided, Sir-  _Mark_. I don't know how what to do."

"No, but I bet you know who does." Mark gambled.

Mindy bit her lip. "Let me make a call."

* * *

"Mindy, this isn't a privileged conversation." Bruce Ng reminded her before they even said hello.

"I know." Mindy said. "You can imagine the discussion up here, about the news."

"I can." Bruce was unreadable.

"Mark asked me who else was in the room when Elrond was decided… And it occurred to me that maybe the room was quite a bit  _bigger_  than the Committee might expect? I mean, to pull it off, it would have to be, right?"

Long silence.

"Ah." Bruce finally made the connection. "Good idea. And given that NASA is a civilian, public access company, it might be an idea to share out the credit where credit's due. All of it. Let me call Mitch and Annie. I'll get back to you."

Bruce disconnected, and Mindy turned to Commander Lewis. "He won't get back to me." She reported promptly. "The JPL team is routing everything through NASA's Press Office anyway. Nobody talks to engineers when they want a scandal."

"I'm still not sure how this is supposed to work." Vogel put in, the rest of the crew gathered with him up the other end of the room.

"Bruce Ng's Uncle is part of the Chinese Space Program." Lewis explained. "Pretty high up the chain, too. Their family connection was the backchannel that they used when they offered us the _Tiayang Shen_."

"Bruce's uncle called us, and said they had a rocket that could make it to Mars for a resupply." Mindy took up the explanation. "Once Teddy knew about that, he could officially ask for it. The Chinese Government wasn't going to volunteer that information. It was going to be a solar probe. Elrond co-opted the probe into resupplying you."

"The laws about international cooperation in Space are… vague." Lewis added. "There was a cooperation deal, but it was repealed by the US in the 20-Teens; and nobody bothered to rewrite anything new. It's technically illegal for the US and China to collaborate on a mission. To save Mark, NASA hammered out a deal with China's Space Program."

"And to save face, both Governments had to pretend it was their idea. By the time anyone asked, The Rich Purnell Maneuver had happened, and NASA had to jump on board with you guys." Mindy sighed. "Subtle, ain't we?"

"What was the deal with China?" Martinez asked. "We got the probe. What did they get?"

"A Tychonaut on Ares IV." Mindy explained, and a small, hopeful smile was shared across each astronaut in the room.

"Well, China won't forget that in a hurry." Martinez said to Lewis.

"No, indeed." Lewis agreed, sending Mindy a grateful look. "In fact, Mark? Add it to the list for your defense. NASA's been trying to lobby Congress to change that 'international cooperation' law back. Teddy and Bruce hammered out a deal in ten minutes. How much money did that save in congressional gridlock and international negotiating?"

"Think it'll work?" Johanssen asked awkwardly. "I mean, they  _are_  politicians."

"Next statement we hear from the ground will decide it." Lewis said blandly. "If they've decided to 'look at the relevant information more closely' then it means they've changed their minds."

* * *

But the next statement wasn't from Congress, or from NASA. It was from the Chinese Government.

"The future of Mankind's expansion into space goes far beyond the heroism or mistakes of any one man. China's best engineers and scientists were proud to put forward their best work to help save Mark Watney, and we look forward to continuing the exploration of the stars with our close economic and scientific partners at NASA." CNN reported the statement.

"Translation: You're not shutting down the program until we get our Martian Tychonaut." Mark said promptly.

"At this point, shutting down the Ares Missions will be a major international incident, and given how much the US and Chinese Economy depend on each other, they can't afford that." Lewis looked happier than Mindy had seen her since docking. "Then it's over. NASA is safe. Ares will go on."

"It's not over." Martinez said swiftly. "What about you?"

Lewis didn't answer right away, which was fine, because Mark jumped in. "Let me make a call."

* * *

The others pretended they weren't watching from just off-camera when Mitch's face filled the screen. "Mark, I saw the news. I'm sure you're hopping mad about Commander Lewis, but just remember we don't have Personal and Confidential Status."

"So everything we say to each other is a matter of public record?" Mark made sure.

"Yup."

"Good." Mark said with scary calm.

"Oh boy." Mitch murmured under his breath. A sentiment shared by all those watching on the Station.

"I don't know who makes the decision, but make sure they know that a Court Martial will be... how shall I put this? A  **Bad**  Idea. Not just because she didn't do anything wrong, and she didn't. And not just because she saved my life, and she did. But also because I've just learned how high the bidding is getting for the first interview with me. I don't even need the megaphone. I've also got the highest social media presence in history. The Kardashian kids are hoping I'll re-post them. There's an old saying, that you never pick a war of words with anyone who buys ink by the barrel. Remind the Navy Brass that they have no idea how big a barrel I have at my disposal." Mark paused. "Which sounds dirty, but I meant it to be threatening; so shaddup."

"I'll tell them, Mark." Mitch promised.

"And whoever's reading the transcripts of this conversation tomorrow?" Mark was still spooky polite. "Be advised that anyone who tries to throw freshly produced, homemade 'fecal matter' at the Commander had better be ready to have  _me_  throwing it back at them, and then some. It was not the crew's fault. If I had actually starved to death up there, my last words would have been 'not their fault'. I'm back at Earth now; and I'll stick with my crew. Anyone who wants to pick a fight with them, there's nowhere they can hide from what I'll bring to the party. Nowhere on Two Planets."

"I understand, Mark." Mitch promised again.

Mark covered the camera and mic a moment. "Is it enough?"

"Mitch had to explain to the Vice President what some of your more… adventurous adjectives meant." Mindy told him. "Let him off the hook, before he faints."

Mark almost smiled at her and released the camera. "Mitch? Thank you for your polite attention."

He disconnected with a flourish.

* * *

Mitch let out a hard breath.

"I'm amazed we got away that lightly." Annie was suddenly at his elbow. "Mindy was right."

"About?"

"About China." Annie reported. "There's a lot of trade wrapped up in international politics right now. All those requests for information from Government offices? Suddenly 'not a priority'."

"So that protects NASA, what about the crew specifically?"

"I don't know. The Hearing will have to go ahead. We marooned an Astronaut, after all. There's going to be an investigation. Even Watney's star power can't fight that. The minute Senator Adler gets on camera, with Lewis and Watney in his sights, he's already got what he wanted. And if he can't take the credit for shutting all of NASA down; then he'll have to make very sure his victory over the crew is loud and attention-grabbing."

Mitch was silent a long moment, thinking. "Pioneer Aviation has contracts with NASA, but has billions more tied up in building airlines for China. Adler can't afford to piss them off, or he loses a fortune."

Annie brightened. The first genuine smile he'd ever seen from her. "Interesting development on that. That memo came from somewhere. Whoever sent it to Mindy sent a copy to the Press, too. Bruce called me when the story about Elrond broke. Mara Barnes came to him the other day. She knows about the memo."

Mitch spun to look at her. "Why didn't he call us sooner?"

"Bruce's uncle is exposed." Annie excused. "He offered the  _Tiayang Shen_  without his government's permission. If China decided not to 'cooperate' with Elrond, Bruce would never hear from his uncle again. He decided to keep his mouth shut when a reporter ambushed him; and I don't blame him. But that's another thing that's safe now that China's decided to back the Ares Missions."

"And China would be pretty outraged to find out one of their intentional contractors had a history of putting big, expensive missions at risk with their cost-cutting measures." Mitch grinned. "In front of a global audience. With lives counting on them..."

Annie nodded. "If we leak it, it'll hurt Adler. If it comes from the Press; it'll sink him completely."

"So, what? We hope that The Post decides to run that memo, and wait for nature to take its course?" Mitch scoffed. "How long will that take?"

"Not so long." Annie said primly. "Remember: I'm part of nature."


	5. There You Are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had planned to release this over the weekend, but in honor of InSight landing safely today, I'm publishing early.

On the Station, they went back to Interview prep. In truth, they were waiting for the chips to fall back on Earth.

"If they decide to drop the whole matter, they can't just come out and say it." Lewis said. "But if they decide to make an issue of it, they have to move fast. Admiralty doesn't go into battle, so once you hit the rank of Admiral, you have to start looking at things politically; because that's the only battlefield left. Mark's threat alone might be enough to put them off. If they decide to let it drop…"

"We'll find out." Mindy promised.

Lewis nodded. "So, Miss Park. What do you think of it?"

Mindy blinked. "Of what?"

Lewis raised both eyebrows. "Being in space."

Mindy flushed. "Oh. Duh. Um… It's an honor and a privilege."

Lewis actually burst out laughing. "Come on. You can do better than that."

Mindy bit her lip. "I arrived at the station and puked. Then I spent some time gazing down at earth before you docked. I honestly didn't notice three hours had gone by until I saw  _Hermes_ coming."

"There's nothing else quite like it." Lewis nodded. "Space is a hard club to get into. I meant what I said: The strongest argument in favor of going to space is having done it before. I don't know if that's in the cards for you, but… You're an expert on Satellite communications and guidance, Spatial mechanics; and now you have practical experience. Most space priorities involve satellite and probe technology. If nobody else has said it yet; welcome to The Club."

Mindy found herself suddenly short of breath. Lewis was right about her CV. She knew satellites at a technical and user level. She'd been so nervous about her part in the mission that she'd barely noticed, but Lewis was right. She was over the line. Past the Point of Negative Return. "My god." Mindy blurted. "I had finally gotten used to the idea of being 'Mission Control', and now I'm… I'm an Astronaut."

Lewis nodded. "I've been on three space missions. Two to this Station, one to Mars. Three missions over six years. I waited two years between my first and second Spacewalk… Two years, and I still dreamt of sleeping in Zero G." Her eyes had clouded suddenly.

Mindy bit her lip. "If it breaks in your favor… You could still come up here. Maybe not Mars, but the Private Sector's got a bigger space program than NASA nowadays… You could find work there. They're already setting up interviews for when Ares III lands."

Lewis shook her head to clear her mood. "Maybe one day. For space training, or something."

"I think it'll be okay." Mindy offered.

Lewis looked over at her. "So do I. But let's talk about something other than the end of my career."

"Like what?"

"Well, for starters..." Lewis said crisply. "You've been looking at me like someone with a question on her mind."

"I'm told you picked me to be the one who came up here." Mindy said finally. "Can I ask, why me?"

"Why not?"

"Not good enough." Mindy shook her head. "I saw the list. I don't know which of the ten were left by the time it got to you, but I know I'm the lowest one on that totem pole. Why me?"

Lewis sighed. "Well, it's a fair question, I guess." She gestured for Mindy to follow her to the other side of the Station; in a symbolic gesture towards privacy. "I picked you, because we knew you already. NASA's a Company Town, and as much as I respect the others on that list, you were the one we had the most contact with. Mark especially. His first contact with NASA may have gone out live between him and Vincent, but I'm reliably informed that you were the one on 'Watney Time' for most of the mission. No mean feat, given that Mars has a 25 hour day."

"24 hours, 37 minutes, and 22 seconds." Mindy said automatically. "Sorry. I've had to correct my mom about a million times."

Lewis almost smiled. "Mark has spent the most intense, most important, most character-defining period of his life in total isolation. And add to that: For over a year on either end, there was only the four of us. Mark's not an introvert. He's at his best when he has an audience. But he won't be able to escape this one ever again. Vogel lives in Germany, Martinez and I are married to people we haven't seen in almost four years, Johanssen and Beck are… starting something real."

"Starting? Please. Look at them." Mindy scorned.

"And the fact that you can keep that bit of gossip to yourself for so long is another point in your favor." Lewis put in. "Mark will never be able to outrun that Price Tag. He'll never be able to stop talking about Mars. In a very real sense, he'll never leave the HAB, or the Rover; and you and Vincent Kapoor were his closest contact during all that." Lewis bit her lip. "I don't mean to put you on the spot in any way, but what I've heard from Houston tells me that you took your responsibility as his 'Guardian Angel' very seriously. Little Birds also tell me that the one point of frustration wasn't the hours, or the pay, or the sudden increase in Job Responsibilities. For you, the hardest part was that there wasn't much you could do to help him in a practical way, beyond watching and learning Morse Code." She gestured in the general direction of the others. "Now there is. Mark's going to have some serious re-entry trouble. And most of us won't be there. Again."

"Vincent was on the list, too. He was there a lot of the time with me." Mindy just looked at her. "Was I picked because you were setting me up with Mark?"

"No." Lewis promised. "That was Martinez's reason, not mine." Lewis smiled. "And if your mother was any indication-"

"Oh man, tell me you didn't hear that."

"Afraid so." Lewis nodded. "Look, it's none of my business who Mark spends his off hours with, but he's going to need someone he can actually talk to. Someone who has an idea of what happened to him beyond what the Press gets wrong. Someone who absolutely won't blab it on the internet, or make a tell-all deal for. We all went through Psych Evals. They aren't worth a coin flip, when it comes to actually telling you anything. And Mark won't talk to a shrink."

"Oh, he will." Mindy smirked. "But he'll make up the most ridiculous psychosis he can think of, and ham it up to a stupid degree." She gave Lewis a look. "Now say the part you're not saying."

Lewis actually blushed for the first time. "Yeah. Alright. With the exception of Beth and Chris, none of us have been with anyone we care about in a very long time. But they're still there. Mark was single. Now that he's the most recognizable face in the world..."

"I know. He's going to be getting some attention." Mindy agreed.

"Attention? He's going to be a raw steak tossed at a wolfpack." Lewis said sharply. "My number one job on this flight was to keep them all safe. It took a year-long detour to succeed; and... I don't know, I want my people to have 'soft landings'. Mark has had very little of anything beyond himself. And even when he did get back to us…"

"I get it, ma'am."

"This isn't a 'ma'am' conversation." Lewis shook her head. "Look, I'm not suggesting anything. But we trust you. And after Rosa, and the 'Watney-Sluts' and everything else? We need a lot of trust right now. But there's  _something_  there. I hear him talking about his emails with you. I saw you with him yesterday. I know Mark. I know  _about_  you. There's something that could be something."

"Four year mission? He could have that 'something' with a hat-rack, right now." Mindy countered.

"Maybe. But if Mark's 'out of practise' enough…" She waved a hand. "I don't know how else to say it. Mark is vulnerable right now. He's smarter than your average bear, and he's fearless at any speed; but where other people are concerned, he is now-"

"Half-starved?" Mindy guessed.

"Is that very condescending of me?" Lewis asked.

"I don't mean in the 'biblical' sense." Mindy shook her head. "A few months ago, he was doing somersaults about having an email that only took ten minutes to go back and forth."

"We're very social creatures." Lewis agreed "You've been an astronaut for a day. Notice anything about 'personal space' rules? I have my husband. Vogel has his family. So does Martinez. Beck and Johanssen have each other. Mark's the only one on this crew who doesn't know who he's coming home to. It's not fair of me to imply anything. But I dread the thought that Mark can survive Mars, but not Earth; and we trust you not to do anything that'll hurt him, or his family, or NASA, or us."

Mindy had been out of her depth this whole time; but that comment she took in stride with surprising ease. "That's a lot of faith to put in someone you've only just met."

"Are we wrong?" Lewis pressed.

"And if I say no?" Mindy pressed. "My part in the mission ends when we land."

"Well, that's up to you, isn't it?" Lewis nodded. "If I've misread things that much, and this is all 'just work' for you; then I do apologise for putting you in a difficult spot. To be clear, none of us told Mark about any of this. You can walk away now if you need to."

Mindy bit her lip. "Can I?" She asked, more to herself.

* * *

"Mindy's conversation with her mom got hacked." Annie said as she came into the breakroom.

"I saw." Vincent nodded, pointing at the television, where a clip was being replayed. "The world knows about Elrond now; so it makes no difference."

"Not to you, maybe." Annie gestured at the screen. "But the 'Mark and Mindy Show' is getting some traction."

Vincent scoffed. "Martinez  _was_  trying to set them up, wasn't he?"

"You were the one that asked what being alone on a planet does to a man psychologically." Annie offered. "I've never known a man who didn't try to solve his psychological issues with sex. How do you think I got my second marriage?"

Vincent shook his head. "I hate getting glimpses of your private life, Annie. They're disturbing on many levels."

"We've had co-ed missions for decades. The rumors are nothing new." Annie shook her head. "Something like Chis and Beth was bound to happen eventually."

"NASA spent a lot of time trying to navigate gender politics. Even more time trying to figure gender dynamics." Vincent put in. "There's decades of research on it. Male-Female teams work well when they respect each other. Guys will go above and beyond when working with women, women push themselves when competing with men. To say nothing of how you need a good balance between 'nurture' and 'swift kick in the ass' when you're in space. It's a very high stress world."

"And 'high stress' is code for..."

"Annie."

"Well, I'm sorry." Annie said, fed up. "Believe me, I hate that it's in my job description to even talk about this. But he will never have privacy again. Everyone else on the Hermes is spoken for. Unless Watney's decided to join a Monastery when he gets back, someone's going to be his first post-Mars romp. If it's someone looking to make Social Media history, we've got a problem."

"A problem that's not our business."

Annie rolled her eyes. "That won't make any difference to the tabloids. I've heard that they're already bidding for the exclusive rights to his first sex tape, should one ever come out."

Vincent snorted. "You think marooning an astronaut is bad? Imagine the hearings if word got out about Beck and Johanssen six months ago." He looked back at the screen, where the clip of Mark laughing behind a blushing Mindy played. "They're going to run that clip forever."

"No. By morning, we'll give them something to beat it." Annie promised.

* * *

Mark was at the viewport, gazing down at earth.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Mindy said quietly.

"Not sure they're worth that much." Mark said dryly. "I was thinking about the interviews."

"Which one?"

"Any of them." Mark rolled his eyes. "One question I get asked, again and again in those emails: Is there anything I'd like to say to the people who were cheering for me?" He looked at Mindy. "Saying 'Thank You' doesn't cut it."

"So, what do you plan to say?"

"I think… That the effort proves the human race is worth it." Mark declared profoundly. "Every human being has a basic instinct: to help each other out. If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it's found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are $$#*!&$ who just don't care, but they're massively outnumbered by the people who do."

Mindy smiled softly at him. "You rehearse that, much?"

"Oh yeah. But it's true." Mark confirmed.

 _He sounds stable to me._  Mindy thought. "Mark, can I ask a favor?"

"Sure."

Mindy rotated carefully so that she and Mark were the same way up… and then she reached out and pulled them together for a hug. She felt him stop breathing, surprised. He was taller than her, but that meant nothing in Zero G; so she floated a few inches 'above' him. She pulled his face to her breastbone, so that his cheek was more or less directly at her heartbeat.

It was not a come-on. In fact, it was almost exactly what Beth had shyly done when he was first rescued. But Mindy wasn't Beth. She was someone new. Someone he hadn't spent multiple years locked up with. The first new person to deliberately reach out for him in four years.

They stayed like that a moment. She had one hand stroking his hair gently, the other around his shoulders, keeping them together. Mark had turned to stone, frozen in place for long seconds. Mindy shut her eyes and kept her breathing even, keeping her heartbeat slow and steady, the way she'd been taught to stay calm during lift-off.

Then she heard it. From Mark, there was a hitch in his breathing, then it came back in low, shuddering gasps. He was holding it back, but he was nearly in tears, just from this. Mindy shushed him gently, not moving. He still hadn't moved. Not to hold on, or to push her away. He was still frozen in place, fighting a complete breakdown, just from the sound of her heartbeat against his ear. Mindy could feel his heart racing erratically through her hand on his shoulder blade. There was an odd chattering sound from Mark's teeth, and she realized swiftly that he was shaking uncontrollably.

Once again, Mindy was surprised at the strength of her own reaction. There was a lump in her throat, and a prickling in her eyes. She was suddenly remembering every word of 'guardian angel' gossip, every tabloid that had gone through his garbage, Rosa's promise to share details of their reunion; every salacious troll that mentioned Chris and Beth… Even Barnes, just walking up to her out of nowhere and asking.

It came to her like a supernova in her brain: There was no chance of a 'respectful interval'. They'd pounce. The media, the hearings, the committees, the tabloids, social media, the Talk Show Hosts, random people on the street, the Internet Trolls… They'd all fall upon him like rabid animals the instant he landed.

 _No! They can't have him!_  Mindy thought fiercely.

The ferocity of it surprised her enough that Mindy released him, and pulled back to look at his face. In the space of thirty seconds, he'd become a whole different person.

Mark was looking up at her like he'd seen a ghost. For a minute, just for a few moments, it all showed on his face. Months of isolation. Fear of death. The unspoken Nightmares. The long-denied Panic. Maybe even a little PTSD. Just for a few moments, it all showed on Mark's face. He didn't say anything to her, but he looked to the window, and the Earth below. Just for a moment, she could see how nervous he was to be this close to a planet full of people. Even in freefall, his posture had become one of a feral cat.

"Yeah." Mindy said, so soft even she could barely hear her voice. "There you are."

Mindy could read the question in his posture.  _Mindy is someone I trust. So if someone I trust can undo me that easily; what happens when a billion strangers close in?_

Mindy was still close to him, watching him get his face under control silently, registering Lewis in the doorway, observing discreetly. The fierce need to protect her Martian was like a living thing suddenly awake inside her.  _I watched over you for this long, Mark. Can't just walk away now._

"Hey, Mark?" Mindy said quietly, giving him some room. "When you were declared dead, your lease was cancelled. Your folks took most of your stuff, most of it was portioned out according to your will. Most of it was returned when they found out you were alive. A few things became 'prized' by folks who wanted to set up a 'celebrity' auction. There have been GoFundMe pages getting it all back. The long and short of it is, you don't have a house yet. NASA's putting you up in Campus housing. Your folks and I did it all up, as close to your place in Chicago as we could get it… But for the next few weeks, at least… I'm your neighbor."

Mark was back under control with nobody touching him. "You are? Still?"

"Well, I've spent most of my last few years on the same clock as you, so it made sense to stay close to Sat-Com. You know about my lease. My mom's been 'wintering' in Houston, for the last six months. She wants to know if I'm moving back in." She made a horrified face. "If you can stand to have me around, please don't make me move back in with my mother."

Mark chuckled, his old face back. "I promise, no fireworks in the backyard past 4am; and I'll be back in my coffin by dawn."

Mindy smiled for him, and floated her way back to Lewis. "Okay, I accept the mission." She said softly to the Commander. "But I promise nothing beyond being a good neighbor."

Lewis smiled to herself. "Alright, Hermes Crew." She called to her people. "Time to call it a night."

* * *

Mindy woke up when she felt a tugging on her hair. Zipped up in a floating sleeping bag, tethered to the wall, her face was the only exposed part of her. Her eyes opened, and she squinted. "Johanssen?"

Beth was kind enough to thread Mindy's glasses onto her face. "I wanted to tell you, I looked into your question about Sol 6. You said you didn't want anyone to know, until there was something to tell them?"

Mindy was suddenly wide awake. "You found something?"

Beth nodded, and gestured for Mindy to follow.

Johanssen led the way through to _Hermes_. The rotating sections had stilled, so the whole ship was in Zero G. With most of the sections sealed to save power, the crew slept in the Common Areas. Beth pushed her way over to the bags of personal items, and unzipped her satchel. Stuffed between a well-worn hoodie and Beck's pocket-watch, was her tablet. Beth pulled it out and turned it towards Mindy, explaining softly, trying not to wake the others. "There were over two dozen IP addresses in constant connection to the MRO when that storm came up. Two of them were from Pioneer Aviation. They knew about the storm as fast as you did."

"Is there any way to be sure what they were looking for?"

"No, but-" Beth caught herself. "You didn't get this from me?"

Mindy nodded.

"The link had to go from the HAB, to the MRO, to satellites here in Earth Orbit."

Mindy nodded. "Given the earth's rotation, it couldn't be a ground based receiver; or it'd only see Mars half the time."

"So... um... I hacked a few satellites. I had to, to keep the communications going when our mission was suddenly a year longer. Most of them don't cache incoming IP Addresses that long; but one of them did. Something I can tell you for sure? Pioneer Aviation's connection to Mars got a whole lot busier when the storm was picked up... Almost two hours before we got Warning Alerts; correcting for transmission time."

"Lot of connection activity. Because they were sharing the reports with each other?" Mindy hardened. "Because they knew the Dish couldn't stand up to the same stress as the rest of the HAB; so they knew the danger, hours before we did; and they said nothing."

"Can't prove that part; but it supports the theory." Beth whispered. "Did you want me to get the information to Earth, like we did about the suits?"

"It'll help." Mindy nodded quietly. "Congratulations, by the way."

Beth froze. "What do you mean?"

"You and Beck." Mindy smiled knowingly. "You said yes."

Beth turned tomato red and looked back at the others, still asleep. "How'd you know?"

Mindy pointed at the sleeping Hermes Crew. "Five sleeping bags, for six astronauts? There isn't a spare one floating around, so where's yours? If you'd said 'no', you wouldn't be sharing; and if he hadn't asked yet, you wouldn't have his pocket-watch zipped up with your personals."

Beth was so red she almost glowed. "I can't wear the ring until we get back to Earth and put the hearings behind us."

"I know." Mindy promised. "I'm not going to tell. I'm happy for you both."

"We're pretty happy too." Beth pulled her head in, smiling so wide it made her face stretch. "One downside about being a NASA geek who skipped a few grades in school: You don't make a lotta girlfriends. Will you come to the wedding?"

"Of course I will."

"Will you be a bridesmaid?"

"I guess."

"Will you teach me how to dance?"

"Beth."

"I never learned how; and I'm not graceful when I'm not in Zero G." Beth excused. "Some couples dance, some couples go to Mars."

* * *

"Man, none of you people sleep, do you?" Barnes yawned as she came in.

Annie held out a jumbo sized espresso to Barnes. "It's not like I woke you. You work for one of the few newspapers in the world with an actual print-run. You're writing, right up to deadline."

"Who's idea was it, letting China carry the water for NASA?" Barnes asked with a smirk as Annie led them to the elevators. "Because from what I'm hearing, you got another three Mars Missions out of it. Maybe a permanent colony."

"Never start a land war in Asia." Annie demurred. "But we're not here to talk about that."

"I figured. In fact, I've never been to the Space Centre before. Not past the Press Room anyway." Barnes sipped her coffee. "Why am I here?"

"It's not for revenge, if that's what you're thinking."

"The Post didn't run the story on Elrond. CNN did that."

"Yeah, but you knew." Annie commented. "Mind if I ask how you found out?"

"There were twenty people in Mission Control that night." Barnes scoffed. "How long did you think it'd stay secret?"

"Those twenty people didn't know much." Annie reminded her.

"I'm not the Post's Science Editor, I'm an investigative journalist. But my science desk tells me that 'steely eyed missile man' is the highest compliment you can pay a NASA engineer; so the transmission from Hermes got some attention. NASA's public access. It would take my illustrious rivals at CNN about thirty seconds to find out there was a Rich Purnell somewhere in that maze of supercomputers." Barnes tapped her notebook. "I had an off the record source who says the  _Tiayang Shen_ was refit for an orbital resupply at the last minute. NASA doesn't do anything at the last minute. You rehearse things a billion times in every variation."

"We were doing a lot of things in a hurry back then." Annie told her.

"The  _Tiayang Shen_  was a Chinese Space probe, Annie. One that hadn't been announced, even in China. That alone was enough for a few reporters to start digging. If I had two sources, you can be sure CNN had three."

"And once they knew 'when', they only needed to know 'who'." Annie sighed. "Well, we couldn't keep it secret forever. What did you think of Watney's call to Mitch?"

"I think it'll keep Adler isolated." Barnes guessed. "Alder himself will be more determined to nail Watney for something. You've got China backing up NASA. On the other side, Adler's got the Navy putting Lewis under the microscope. Watney's threat means nobody else is going to get into it; but..." Barnes trailed off. "You've got something." She guessed. "Something big enough to fend off Adler, or the Navy, or both. But you need it to go public."

"During our last conversation, you made it clear that we needed a full scale 'earthquake' to get any kind of traction against a politician." Annie nodded. "What if we had evidence that Pioneer Aviation was criminally responsible for Watney getting marooned?"

"And then Adler fought like hell to get put in charge of the investigation?" Brand's eyebrows lifted to her hairline. "When his own company could be blamed?"

"Ah, do I see the light of 'human interest' growing?" Annie asked smugly.

Barnes bit her lip. "You forgot to say 'off the record'."

Annie led them off the elevator. "No, I didn't." She knocked on an office door.

"Come in!" A voice called.

Annie opened the door, revealing Teddy, Mitch, and Vincent, all waiting for them. "Mrs Barnes." Teddy said crisply. "In case nobody's said it, welcome to the Johnston Space Centre."

"Director." Barnes was surprised.

"Everything we're about to say is off the record until the Hearings begin. But we may all be willing to go on the record tonight, if you can answer one very important question." Teddy said.

"That being?"

"What do you know about this memo?" Vincent answered her, handing over the photocopy Mindy had received.

Barnes read it twice. "I know it's genuine." She said shortly.

"How do you know that?" Mitch pounced.

Barnes looked up at him. "Because someone stuck the original under my door over a month ago."

Everyone sat up straighter in their chairs. "We got ours last week. Can you run it?"

"Tricky, without knowing who sent it." Barnes shook her head. "It could be gained illegally, even if it was fished out of someone's garbage."

"Will your Editor be willing to run it anyway?"

"I already asked. He said no. Not without someone going on the record." Barnes looked up at them. "Someone sent it to us both, so he wants the world to know, and he wants NASA to be ready for the story to break. I've spent three days figuring out who wrote it. My best guess is a former Pioneer Aviation Team Leader, named Norman Mallone."

"You've spoken to him?" Teddy asked.

"I phoned. He had a little accident when he found out I knew his name; but he won't go on the record."

Silence.

"With any scandal involving power, it takes the most courage to be the first one to speak." Barnes offered. "You want to make this guy brave enough to raise his hand... You could let him know you'll have his back."

"How do we do that?"

Annie said it for them. "We speak first."

* * *

"So." Mindy said quietly to Lewis as the Astronauts all ate their breakfast. "Speaking of being someone who knows things, and keeping gossip to myself…"

Lewis' face hardened up a bit. "Yeah?"

"Not my business, of course, but I can't help but notice that when the Court Martial talk happened, you were very fine about not fighting it, as long as you could keep it all directed at you instead of the Crew, NASA, the Navy…"

Lewis considered her for a long moment. "I gave the order, Mindy. I know he doesn't care. But I do. The deal you guys hammered out was what politicians do, spreading the blame out so far that nobody's actually held responsible. I'm still an Officer. The difference between being a soldier and a politician is that you have to take responsibility for your screw-ups, especially when they cost lives. And this was a pretty major one. To say nothing of the fact that to fix it, I had to keep my crew away from their families for a whole other year." Lewis shrugged, a motion that lifted her half off her velcro feet in the freefall. "If my career ends, I can live with that. In fact, it might just be easier to live with than getting away with it. I think after two tours, plus training, plus Mars, I even owe it to my folks, to my husband… To everyone on Earth who needs me."

Mindy nodded. "Um, just so you know… When we talk about Ares III, back at NASA, everyone sort of figures that'd be how you'd take it. But speaking for myself, everyone back in Houston, and certainly your own crew… I think we're much lesser with your retirement."

Lewis nodded, eyes softening. "Thank you."

Mindy winced a bit. "And… It's not my place to say, but… What you said, about how Armstrong overruled procedure? I read about when they were putting the mission together, and everyone wanted to know what the most important thing Armstrong and Aldrin could do on the moon? The answer they came up with was: 'Get Off It'."

Lewis chuckled.

"You got them all home, Commander." Mindy said, almost like a promise.

Vogel called to them from the next compartment. "You should see this, Ma'am."

* * *

The Navy had made an official statement. "Even the most cursory of conversations with NASA has demonstrated that a Mars Mission has many moving parts; from many different agencies, and most of them civilian. The Military cannot, on principle, have any jurisdiction over civilian agencies. As there has never been a case where a military officer was charged with any form of Dereliction during a Civilian Mission, we have no precedent to fall back on. As the military answers to the executive branch, we await their ruling."

Mindy translated in her head:  _If there's any muckraking to be done, we'll let politicians do it._

But the newscaster wasn't finished; and their was the Breaking News.

* * *

"But the story doesn't end there. Mara Barnes, from The Washington Post, reported this morning that NASA's early review of the logs from the newly returned Ares III Crew has revealed some startling facts. Live via satellite from Houston, we have Mara Barnes. Mrs Barnes, thank you for joining us."

"Thank you for having me." Barnes nodded.

"Your exclusive with The Washington Post got some attention this morning. For our viewers, can you walk us through it?"

"I have a copy of an internal memo to the Management of Pioneer Aviation, warning that their engineering review of the Hermes Crew Spacesuits found that the bio-monitors were hugely below standards required by NASA; as was the structural integrity of the HAB Comm Dish." Barnes reported. "The memo was shredded, and a different conclusion was put into the official record."

"And that was all?"

"No, Pioneer covered their tracks further by firing the head of the Engineering team, Norman Mallone. NASA officials have gone on the record, including the Ares Flight Director Mitch Henderson, and the NASA Director Teddy Sanders; stating that the Comm Dish supports on the Ares III HAB were worth less than a toothpick under strain."

"And I'm told we have Doctor Norman Mallone on the line. Doctor, can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can. Thank you for having me."

"Are you prepared to go on the record as the Post's source for this memo?"

"I'm willing to go on the record as its original author, sir." Mallone said firmly.

"Fair enough. In fact, you were reluctant to go that far, until this morning."

"It's a highly charged, highly politicised situation." Mallone excused. "And the last time I involved myself, it went badly for me."

"They  _did_  suppress it then?"

"I was pressured, bullied with financial retribution, and finally threatened with dismissal." Mallone put in. "After that memo failed, I went to the majority shareholder. I figured if word got out that we were cutting that many corners, we'd lose the contract."

"You went to the Majority Shareholder in Pioneer Aviation." The Newscaster pressed. "And that was?"

"Senator Adler, as a matter of fact." Mallone declared. "He personally promised me that immediate action would be taken. When I returned to the office, I was told that I was fired for ignoring procedures; and going against the wishes of my superiors. I didn't fight it, because the charges were accurate. I was fired, but it was worth it. It wasn't until Mark Watney made contact with NASA again that I realized they'd ignored me anyway. The details of his accident weren't known. At least, not on Earth."

"If I may interject?" Mara Barnes put in. "Since the story went to air this morning, two other former employees of Pioneer Aviation have stepped forward, claiming to have been sacked for refusing to falsify records, after the disaster that marooned Mark Watney."

"CNN can now report that Senator Adler, chairman of the Senate Oversight Investigation into Ares III, is a major stockholder and board member of Pioneer Aviation. The Senator, as yet, has made no comment on his company's possible culpability in the equipment failure of Mark Watney's Bio-Med Sensors on Sol 6."

* * *

"Equipment failure." Mark repeated.

Lewis shook her head. "Adler's finished. After beating the war drums against us, he'll look like he was organizing a coverup. And after Watney's little speech to Mitch, I doubt anyone else will want to keep hitting NASA. With that on one side, and China demanding a fourth mission on the other side, it's over."

"It's over." Mark agreed. He looked at Mindy. "It's really over. We're home free."

* * *

Re-Entry was the scariest thing Mindy had ever done. The Computer was flying until they got past Blackout. Martinez was on the controls, just in case. The Falcon 12 had never had a crash yet.

"Worse than Mars Landing." Mark called, sounding weirdly calm. "Thicker atmosphere means hotter re-entry. Johanssen, how are you doing?"

Beth had her eyes screwed shut. "Just tell me when we land."

"Y'know, they were debating whether or not to use the Falcon, or bring us down with parachutes." Martinez called. "NASA went out of their way to decide which was safest. After all this, it'd be a real shame to burn up now."

"I agree." Beth said in a small voice.

"Me too." Mindy offered, clutching tightly at her straps.

"Relax, Mindy. This is the easy part." Martinez called. "If the  _Tiayang Shen_  Rendezvous hadn't worked, Beth had a whole  _other_  survival plan. She still won't tell us who she'd have eaten first."

"Martinez, shaddup." Lewis said nicely.

* * *

The landing was textbook. The landing pad was isolated, for safety reasons; so they didn't have to worry, beyond waving at the drones taking pictures.

"Think it would be over the top if I kissed the ground?" Mark asked Mindy.

"Save the A-List material for your close-up." Mindy drawled.

* * *

The bus ferried them back to NASA. The Driver welcomed them back, and didn't so much as give them a starry-eyed look. It was like he was taking a bunch of kids home from school.

Which was good, because most of them were having trouble walking in a straight line.

Mindy was getting used to gravity again, but she didn't miss the way everyone was staring out the windows, gazing at blue skies and white fluffy clouds, and grass along the road. Johanssen pointed at a bird, with genuine tears in her eyes.

"It's all still here." Vogel murmured. "I was afraid I was remembering it wrong."

Gravity was making Mindy's head spin, and she leaned a bit against the window. Mark was on the opposite side of the aisle, deep in thought. "What are you thinking?" Mindy asked him warmly.

Mark looked over, troubled. "How come Aquaman can control whales? They aren't fish, they're mammals."

Mindy blinked. "Well... Because they're still an Aquatic Species? He's Aquaman, not Fishman."

Mark smiled happily. "Of course! Ohh, that's been bugging me."

Mindy shook her head, amused despite herself.

Beth called ahead. "Hey, Mindy? You a Marvel or a DC?"

Mindy looked over her shoulder awkwardly, and noted that every member of the Crew _but_ Mark seemed unusually interested in her answer. "Well... A Marvel, of course." This, apparently, was the right answer, and everyone smiled approvingly at her, and each other. "Is it important?"

"Not at all." Beth commented. "But if you were a DC, it'd be pretty rough when time came to raise the children."

Mindy wasn't sure why, but this comment made the whole Hermes Crew burst into laughter.

* * *

As the bus got closer to their destination, everyone sorted themselves out for being back in the public eye.

"So. Your first space mission." Lewis commented to Mindy. It felt like a command to speak.

Mindy bit her lip and took inventory. Her legs felt rubbery from the time without gravity. Her stomach felt inside out after everything started going 'down' again, her eyes were hurting from the sunlight, and her spine felt like it was trying to telescope. She hadn't had a shower in half a week, and using a space toilet was the single most uncomfortable thing she'd experienced since getting root canal...

And yet…

"I want to go back." Mindy confessed. "It's… I don't know how to explain it, but I feel like Earth is where we're made to  _be_ , but everywhere else is where we're meant to  _go_."

Lewis nodded grandly, pleased with that. "The Earth won't last forever, Miss Park; that's a fact. Even if we manage not to blow each other to Hades, we can't stay here forever. Space means that humanity can live without Earth. And Mark gave a full measure of devotion to the cause."

"You all did." Mindy said to her warmly. "Commander, this is the weirdest thing I've ever said out loud, but I'm proud to be part of your species today."

Lewis laughed joyfully at that. "It's good to be home."

* * *

The bus let them out, with a Press Pool in clear view, and a moderate walk to the Centre. It was a limited window to let the world get a look at them, safe and sound, and back on the ground.

Everyone waved brightly at the Press as they walked. Lewis led the way towards the centre, directly past the Press Pool, who knew better than to go past the rope line. Mindy couldn't believe she was walking with them. Her mother would be in the Johnson Space Centre, just like the other families.

Mark paused as they passed by the Press, grinned darkly at Lewis from behind, and struck a 'Fonz' pose for the watching cameras. "Eeeeey!"

The cameras ate it up, but none of the others stopped to watch, smiling to themselves as they went back to their loved ones.

And then Mindy saw them pointing the cameras at her too. She wasn't one of the 'celebrities' exactly, but she was walking off the bus with the rest of them, part of the mission. Her name would be on screen, next to the shot of her, carrying her helmet under one arm. The little girl in the 'Firefly' T-Shirt who'd recognized her all those months ago suddenly came to mind. Mindy suddenly hoped the kid was watching her on television right now.

 _Because I'm an astronaut now._  Mindy told herself.  _My first time in space. And First Is Forever._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End.
> 
> Read and Review!

**Author's Note:**

> Read and Review!


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